An NBA superstar pledged his support to Nick Kyrgios by telling him he was watching him play at the Australian Open – but fans quickly noticed something wasn’t quite right.
Golden State Warriors point and shooting guard D’Angelo Russell shared an image on Twitter on Wednesday showing him watch Kyrgios play, adding the caption: ‘Tuned in’.
Kyrgios was thankful for the support, retweeting the post before replying: ‘I’m watching and supporting you too my brother.’
NBA superstar D’Angelo Russell took to Twitter (pictured) to show his support for Australian star tennis player Nick Kyrgios however some eagle eyed fans spotted a glaring mistake
While Kyrgios was thankful for the support with a kind reply and a retweet, many fans were quick to point out the match Russell was watching was from 2019 and was played in Mexico
Fans initially pointed out that Kyrgios was on an off day at the Open, and couldn’t be competing live.
‘Not live bro,’ one fan responded.
‘He’ll be back on for 2nd round tomorrow at 4pm,’ another added.
But it soon emerged the image wasn’t from the 2020 Australian Open at all – and wasn’t even played Down Under.
The image Russell posted was from a match between Kyrgios and world number one Rafael Nadal in Mexico last February.
‘It’s a match against Nadal from some other tournament,’ one fan wrote.
‘Look closely he’s watching a rerun of Kyrgios Nadal,’ another replied.
Kyrgios responded to Russell (pictured) to tell him he was also ‘supporting’ the superstar NBA player who recently joined the Golden State Warriors
Meanwhile, Kyrgios was mostly measured in downing Italian Lorenzo Sonego 6-2 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-1) in the first round of the Australian Open.
Despite appearing at ease during the match, Kyrgios admitted being edgy as he took to the court, particularly given the focus on the Australian bushfires and his involvement in raising funds, saying he was playing ‘for a lot of people’.
‘Just with everything going on, walking out there, I was a lot more nervous than I have been in previous matches,’ he said.
‘Australian Open, I usually feel pretty comfortable.
‘The crowd was unbelievable. I got comfortable quite early in the match. I played an unbelievable first set, which helped. I thought the pressure kind of eased off after I won that first set (but) he didn’t go away.’
Asked after his first-round win if he feels like he’s better able to focus when he’s playing for an extra cause, his answer was easy.
‘Yeah, for sure. I guess it’s just a perspective thing, isn’t it?’ he said.
‘Why am I really getting mad on the tennis court with everything going on?
‘Every match I’ve played this year, I’ve been pretty good. It’s probably because of everything going on.’
In the weeks leading up to the Australian Open and during his first round match Kyrgios has been showing a new side of himself to the Australian public.
He became emotional during his post-match interview as American tennis legend John McEnroe praised him for his response to the Australian bushfire crisis.
‘The way you’ve led the way for the bushfire relief thing and everything you’ve done, I’ve got to tell you, well done man,’ McEnroe said.
Kyrgios (pictured) cruised through his first round match at the Australian Open and Wednesday was an off day for the star player before he hits the court again on Thursday
‘Absolutely outstanding effort and I know a lot of people share the same view but I just wanted to tell you personally that I’m proud of you.’
Kyrgios said he was going to make him tear up after hearing his kind words.
McEnroe then vowed to donate $1000 to the bushfire relief fund for every set Kyrgios wins for the rest of this tournament.
However after his first round win when he lobbed many of his towels and gear into the crowd as souvenirs.
One fan was ecstatic when he managed to grab a rogue banana peel thrown by Kyrgios, when a reported honed in on the banana peel the tennis star wasn’t happy.
However the 23-year-old was less than impressed when asked about the stunt in a post-match interview.
‘When you were cleaning up, was that just so the ball girl didn’t have to do it?’ the reporter asked.
‘You’ve got to do better than that, bro,’ Kyrgios shot back. ‘Is that a serious question? Oh my god. Next question.’
The focus will be back on Kyrgios during his second-round match against Gilles Simon on Thursday.
Kyrgios became emotional during his post match interview interview as American tennis legend John McEnroe praised him for his response to the Australian bushfire crisis