An emerging tennis star has been criticised for an “blatantly arrogant” press conference after an easy win.
Playing in the Cleveland Open, 25-year-old Gold Coast-born Nick Toymac beat qualifier Peter Henderson 6-0 6-0 in the opening round.
But rather than stay humble and focus on the rest of the tournament, Toymac rubbed it into his opponent’s face.
“I’ll be honest, that was the easiest professional match I’ve ever played!” said Toymac. “I was out there for an hour and barely broke a sweat. Old mate couldn’t handle my lightning serves and his serves were so slow I could have skulled 10 beers and still returned it for an ace.”
Toymac even questioned Henderson’s future in the game.
“Seriously, Henderson should quit tennis in shame. That’s how badly I embarrassed him. There’s much easier sports he can try – maybe golf or lawn bowls would be more his speed?”
Tennis journalists have slammed Toymac’s press conference.
“While Toymac captured the public’s imagination when he made the Australian Open semis a couple of years ago, he’s done nothing since then: he’s only won a couple of minor tour titles but hasn’t gone past the quarters in a grand slam tournament,” wrote tennis journalist Gideon Lalor
“He’s a daring, arrogant player, but that dare and arrogance can backfire. Toymac’s disrespect to opponents and blatantly arrogant press conference means the elite players will be targeting him, wanting to knock some humility on him. And watch the Australian public turn on a player they once loved. If he doesn’t fix his attitude, Toymac will be another of those talented players who didn’t make the most of their ability,” added another tennis journalist Geoff Collins.
Henderson responded to Toymac’s criticisms via Twitter.
“Sorry Nick, but I’m won’t be changing sports. I find golf boring and while I’ve played a few barefoot bowls games, I lose interest quickly, so I guess I’m stuck with tennis. The humbling loss was actually a good thing. I’ve not only studied the game to see where I went wrong, but I also learnt how not to behave when I eventually start winning games. You often learn more from a bad loss than a big win.”
Toymac is yet to respond to the criticism, but posted a cryptic Instagram post with the words, “Haters can’t stand me coz [sic] they won’t put in the work to be me!”
