"Are you getting paid by Novak Djokovic to defend him" - Fans react to Nick Kyrgios blaming ball changes for Serb's United Cup loss

Nick Kyrgios was recently criticized by tennis fans online over his latest comments about the frequent ball changes on the ATP Tour. The Australian cited ball changes as a potential reason for Novak Djokovic's loss against Alex de Minaur at the 2024 United Cup.

De Minaur and Djokovic faced off in the first match of the quarter-final tie between Team Australia and Team Serbia. Coming into the match, Djokovic had won their only previous encounter, at the 2023 Australian Open, by a comfortable margin of 6-2, 6-1, 6-2.

De Minaur, however, managed to bring his best game to defeat the Serb 6-4, 6-4 on Wednesday, giving Australia a crucial lead in the quarter-finals of the United Cup.

Nick Kyrgios, who has been out of action for a long time due to ongoing injury concerns, posted his opinion about the frequent ball changes on X (formerly Twitter). The Australian claimed that the weekly ball changes were a possible reason for Djokovic's defeat.

The Serb also faced problems with his right wrist in his previous match against Jiri Lehecka.

"Change of balls every week finally got to novaks wrist 😭 the atp really need to do something about this problem. Players suffer all the time 🙏🏽," Kyrgios posted.

This didn't sit well with fans online, many of whom felt that Kyrgios was trying to diminish his fellow Australian's incredible achievement of defeating the World No. 1.

One fan claimed that Kyrgios was trying to take credit away from De Minaur for something that he wasn't able to do, alluding to his loss against Djokovic at the 2022 Wimbledon Finals.

"Had to take the credit from the De Minaur for doing something he wasn’t able to do," the fan wrote.

Another fan claimed that when Rafael Nadal complained about the balls a few years ago at the 2020 French Open, a lot of people said that the Spaniard was making excuses.

"But when Rafa was complaining about balls a couple of years ago, it was an excuse," they wrote.

Here are a few more reactions from fans online:

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"People who think balls aren’t a big enough factor to result in athletes being hurt are potatoes" - Nick Kyrgios responds to critics in follow-up tweets

Nick Kyrgios hits back at critics

After receiving a flurry of scathing responses to his tweet, Nick Kyrgios posted a series of replies defending his claims.

In his first reply, Kyrgios clarified that he didn't try to take away any credit from De Minaur. He also said that his fellow Aussie is a great player who deserves all the success that comes his way.

"Ok for the noobs that think I’m taking credit away from Alex are just plain dumb. Demon is a hell of a player and deserves every success that comes his way," Kyrgios tweeted on X.

In another tweet, the Australian talked about the pressure on players' wrists and arms due to the change in balls over a season.

"Also, for the people who think balls aren’t a big enough factor to result in an athlete being hurt are potato’s. The load through a players elbow, wrist over this vigorous season is enormous."