Only thing that’s remarkable is an ability to reach new lows

There would be plenty who have other labels they’d like to use to describe the obnoxious young tennis prodigy but they would not be fit for publication in a family newspaper.

The latest bad boy antics that have taken his reputation to a new low happened on court against Stan Wawrinka when he suggested to the Swiss star that fellow Australian player Thanasi Kokkinakis had slept with his girlfriend.

Kyrgios had just lost the first set at the Montreal Masters and reacted in the manner we have come to expect from him when things don’t go his way by telling Wawrinka: “Kokkinakis banged your girlfriend, sorry to tell you that mate.” What a class act this young Australian is proving to be.

Wawrinka fired back on social media after the match, calling for action against the Aussie and describing what had been said as something he would not say to his worst enemy.

Wawrinka’s description of the sledge as “beyond belief” was on the mark and in light of Kyrgios’ poor behaviour in the past, it’s rather remarkable the 20-year-old was still able to come up with something with this kind of shock value.

In his post-match interview, Kyrgios showed far less ability to construct a concise sentence than he does when insulting people on court, explaining: “You know, I thought ah, you know, he was getting a bit lippy at me, so I don't know, it's just in the moment sort of stuff. But yeah, I don't really know. I just said it.” 

If only he were so tongue-tied on court.

Kyrgios' mum Nill sounded every bit like the protective mother who refuses to see something in her child that is obvious to the rest of the world, saying Nick was merely reacting because of bad blood between the two.

One can only hope that she listens to the words of Magnus Norman, who coaches Wawrinka, when he advised Kyrgios: “Hope for you that you have people around that will teach you a thing or two about life tonight. Very bad.”

Another good bit of advice for Nick would be to divert time spent at the hairdresser into some sort of coaching in the art of being a decent sport.