Featured Image Credit: Getty
Topics: Nick Kyrgios, Jannik Sinner, Tennis
Ryan Smart
Nick Kyrgios once caused outrage with a 'disgusting' remark about Jannik Sinner's former girlfriend Anna Kalinskaya.
Kalinskaya is a top player in women's tennis and is currently ranked at world number 32 by the WTA.
The 26-year-old reached the quarter-final of the 2024 Australian Open and lost in the third round of the US Open to Wimbledon champion Iga Swiatek.
She reached her maiden WTA 1000 final last year, losing 6-4, 5-7, 5-7 to Italy's Jasmine Paolini at the Dubai Championships.
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Kalinskaya dated current ATP world number two Sinner for several months during that season, before the pair ended their relationship in order to 'better understand their future'.
After the tournament, she appeared on the 'First & Red' podcast alongside ex-tennis player Anna Chakvetadze.
Kalinskaya was asked if she had received any advances from other male celebrities, to which she replied: "Tennis players, more often than before. Now I'm older, I don't know, for some there's no chances. No need to write."
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She claimed that one tennis player 'wrote like 10 times and then gave up', before naming him as Holger Rune.
She added: "He writes to everyone. He thinks too much of himself. Maybe he's just desperate. But he's not the only one [to have messaged]."
Rune later posted to Twitter: "Ha ha ha. We might have cultural differences that make Anna read a comment on a story as an invitation to a date. If I want to go for a date, I ask for a date. Don't worry."
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Kalinskaya previously dated Kyrgios briefly - and the Australian faced backlash for a remark he made shortly after the announcement that she and Sinner were in a relationship.
Taking to Instagram, he posted a photo of himself and Kalinskaya at an NBA game while they were still dating, alongside the phrase: "Second serve."
Although he didn't reference her new relationship, fans interpreted it as a dig at Sinner, and the Australian was heavily criticised.
Kyrgios is currently ranked at world number 651 after a long period of inactivity due to injury.
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Since withdrawing from an ATP event in Tokyo in October 2022, the 30-year-old has only been able to compete in six competitive singles matches - with his injury list including a serious wrist problem that required him to have full reconstructive surgery in 2023.
He reached the third round of this year's Australian Open in March, but a recurring knee injury has further set him back and he hasn't competed since then.