Hi! I would like to say that this was a wonderful essay. I am a huge tennis fan and I have always enjoyed reading about the marketing and business side of the game.
However, and please do not take this the wrong way, I have a critique of your essay regarding the next paragraph:
"Serena Williams is a once-in-a-lifetime athlete that broke boundaries in tennis. She helped Nike tell deeper stories about sport, identity, womanhood, and legacy. Federer turned tennis into an art form. Agassi was the “anti-tennis club” star. More recently, Nick Kyrgios is another star who pushes tennis style, being anti-establishment and having an untraditional playing style. All of these icons transformed the sport off the court—not just won tournaments."
First of all, I do not think 23 Grand Slam winner Serena Williams, 8 Grand Slam winner Agassi and 20 Grand Slam winner Federer are on the same level as no slam Kyrgios, whoose biggest achievment was a Wimbledom final he reached because Nadal withdrew. Following that event, a lack of discipline, injuries and bad attitude resulted in a dissapointing career.
Second of all, -and to be frank the reason I wrote this comment-Kyrgios is a man that pleaded guilty to assaulting his girlfriend. Is that the man you wish to call an icon? An abuser?
On top of that, he has made multiple comments disrespecting women's tennis and sexist remarks regarding his ex girlfriend Anna Kalinskaya when she briefly dated Sinner.
If anything, the way Kyrgios has transformed the game is by proving once again that the business of tennis does not give a fuck about employing abusers as long as it might be profitable.
ESPN gave him a buch of interviews to do. He was going insane about Sinner but still appeared on TV like nothing was going on. All of it bc he has a bad boy reputation that might bring ratings? Against the fear of seeming repetitive, this is a man that has assaulted his girlfriend and has not achieved much of consequence in this sport, is that really an icon?
Hi! Thank you so much for writing out this thoughtful comment and reading the post.
I want to say first I totally agree with you. I am aware of these things Kyrgios has done and have mentioned them in my posts before (You can reference my very first post where I address some of these issues). In the Naomi Osaka post, I am saying he influenced tennis fashion with his own personal style and was treated as an outsider to tennis by traditional elitists, making him a style icon through the lens of Nike. He doesn't have the same accomplishments of Serena, Federer, and Agassi, but Nike has given him a signature shoe and designed special kits for him.
I'm not a fan of Kyrgios and have critiqued him (and Zverev) repeatedly in my writing. Thanks again for commenting and calling this out. This kind of analysis is the reason I started Ball Boy and wish to continue to engaging with readers through comments!
Hi! Thank you for reading my comment and taking it so well. I would like to apologize if I was too harsh, I recently suscribed to your substack so I had not seen your posts about Kyrgios or Zverev.
Therefore, when you called Kyrgios an icon it left me kind of speechless. But now in light of your reply I see you were referencing how Nike treated him as a fashion icon, and not him as a person per se.
Hi! I would like to say that this was a wonderful essay. I am a huge tennis fan and I have always enjoyed reading about the marketing and business side of the game.
However, and please do not take this the wrong way, I have a critique of your essay regarding the next paragraph:
"Serena Williams is a once-in-a-lifetime athlete that broke boundaries in tennis. She helped Nike tell deeper stories about sport, identity, womanhood, and legacy. Federer turned tennis into an art form. Agassi was the “anti-tennis club” star. More recently, Nick Kyrgios is another star who pushes tennis style, being anti-establishment and having an untraditional playing style. All of these icons transformed the sport off the court—not just won tournaments."
First of all, I do not think 23 Grand Slam winner Serena Williams, 8 Grand Slam winner Agassi and 20 Grand Slam winner Federer are on the same level as no slam Kyrgios, whoose biggest achievment was a Wimbledom final he reached because Nadal withdrew. Following that event, a lack of discipline, injuries and bad attitude resulted in a dissapointing career.
Second of all, -and to be frank the reason I wrote this comment-Kyrgios is a man that pleaded guilty to assaulting his girlfriend. Is that the man you wish to call an icon? An abuser?
On top of that, he has made multiple comments disrespecting women's tennis and sexist remarks regarding his ex girlfriend Anna Kalinskaya when she briefly dated Sinner.
If anything, the way Kyrgios has transformed the game is by proving once again that the business of tennis does not give a fuck about employing abusers as long as it might be profitable.
ESPN gave him a buch of interviews to do. He was going insane about Sinner but still appeared on TV like nothing was going on. All of it bc he has a bad boy reputation that might bring ratings? Against the fear of seeming repetitive, this is a man that has assaulted his girlfriend and has not achieved much of consequence in this sport, is that really an icon?
Hi! Thank you so much for writing out this thoughtful comment and reading the post.
I want to say first I totally agree with you. I am aware of these things Kyrgios has done and have mentioned them in my posts before (You can reference my very first post where I address some of these issues). In the Naomi Osaka post, I am saying he influenced tennis fashion with his own personal style and was treated as an outsider to tennis by traditional elitists, making him a style icon through the lens of Nike. He doesn't have the same accomplishments of Serena, Federer, and Agassi, but Nike has given him a signature shoe and designed special kits for him.
I'm not a fan of Kyrgios and have critiqued him (and Zverev) repeatedly in my writing. Thanks again for commenting and calling this out. This kind of analysis is the reason I started Ball Boy and wish to continue to engaging with readers through comments!
Hi! Thank you for reading my comment and taking it so well. I would like to apologize if I was too harsh, I recently suscribed to your substack so I had not seen your posts about Kyrgios or Zverev.
Therefore, when you called Kyrgios an icon it left me kind of speechless. But now in light of your reply I see you were referencing how Nike treated him as a fashion icon, and not him as a person per se.
Keep.up the good work!
Not much to add except that I thought Sinner’s t-shirt the other day was particularly ugly.
Meanwhile Aryna dressing off the rack. 😆