The 20-year-old, who according to Sports Illustrated is “the most reviled man in tennis,” did nothing to dispute that reputation after his first-round loss to Andy Murray earlier this week.
Even by his standards it was an achievement considering he was barely in the tournament long enough to break a sweat.
According to Sports Illustrated journo S.L. Price, after Kyrgios finished his media conference he was asked for a television interview.
“He nodded, smiled, pulled a wad of chewing gum from his mouth and handed it to a handler,” wrote Price.
“She (the handler) smiled and stuck the wad into her left palm.
“The camera light blazed, and again came a question about the Wawrinka incident. No, Kyrgios said as the room emptied around him, ‘I’m not embarrassed about it at all.’”
Before the chewing gum incident, Kyrgios seemed disinterested in his 7-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 thrashing by Murray. At one point he leaned back in his chair during a changeover and pretended to have a sleep.
“Just taking a nap,” he said by way of explanation later.
“It’s good for you.
When asked about the bad-boy image Australia’s youngest crop of male tennis players has, he seemed shocked.
“It’s so funny - Bernard, he’s harmless, he’s just a normal kid.
“I don’t really understand where he gets this reputation from—or where I get it from, at all. We show emotion out there. We might not be the most usual tennis players you see.
"Somehow we got this reputation that’s just ridiculous.”
Just to be sure, this is the same Tomic who was arrested in July in Miami in what was just the latest in long line of misdemeanours, infractions, transgressions and dummy spits.
Price argues the rise of Kyrgios and Tomic signals the end of an era for Australian tennis. More correctly, he calls it “the death of the Australian way.”
With John McEnroe, Shane Warne and Roy Emerson adding their names to the ever growing list of Kyrgios critics, it’s hard to argue with Price’s conclusion.
Sadly for him, Kyrgios still seems to be oblivious.