Nick Kyrgios reveals his odd fashion practice of ‘free-balling’ on the tennis court ahead of Australian Open

Aussie tennis star Nick Kyrgios has revealed a bizarre yet hardly surprising dress choice hidden from fans that might cause them to look at him a little differently. Speaking to Nova’s Jase & Lauren on Thursday, the firebrand riffed with hosts over vision of boxer Mike Tyson’s ****less chaps following his bout with viral star Jake Paul last weekend. Hardly off-brand for the headline-maker, he revealed he follows a similar practice.

“Just off the back of Tyson, you always wear pants in the dressing room, don’t you? Just in case the camera grabs,” host Jase Hawkins asked. “I actually don’t! I free-ball! Fun fact for you guys, I free-ball when I play tennis, so when I’m playing the Grand Slams, you can just picture me now, free-balling..



.fun fact for you!” the 29-year-old teased. Pressed for more details, the hosts asked Kyrgios to confirm if his “no undies” claim was legitimate.

“I need to feel it nice and free down there when I got break points,” he said. The Canberran — who has been ranked as high as 16 in the world — reflected on the lack of competitive forces in the game with the recent retirements of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. He claimed his sport had become “bland” and that “everyone’s friends with each other”.

“I hate that s***, to be honest,” Kyrgios revealed. “As Aussies as well, you look at our sports, they’re rough as anything. AFL, NRL.

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That’s why we watch, we watch for entertainment, we watch for bad blood, we watch for, you know, something maybe happening. “I’m all for being friends off the court, and I just think there’s a bit too much respect in inside the lines at the moment in the tennis world.” The outspoken star is planning to appear at the Australian Open in Melbourne in January following persistent knee and wrist injuries that have stymied his past 24 months on tour.

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