In the past couple of years, young tennis star Nick Kyrgios has garnered attention for three things: his explosive game, his even more explosive temper, and his relationship with fellow tennis player Ajla Tomljanovic. For anyone who follows the sport, it’s hard to miss the news of his matches, as they’re often covered extensively by the media, owing in part to his unconventional style, but largely due to his unpredictable temper.
But it’s interesting to see the star more relaxed and in higher spirits when he’s cozying up with his girl Ajla. Curious to know more about the girl who’s captured the heart of the “bad boy of tennis”? Read on to find out more about Nick and Ajla’s relationship.
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Who Is Nick Kyrgios?
Nick Kyrgios is an Australian professional tennis player born on April 27, 1995, in Canberra. He is of Greek-Malaysian descent: His mother, Norlaila is a Malaysian-born computer engineer, while his father, Giorgos, is Greek. Growing up, Nick was an athletic kid who excelled in basketball and tennis. At the age of 17, he was named the “top-ranked junior in the world”.
Performance
At the 2014 Wimbledon Championships, Nick Kyrgios made waves in the tennis world by simultaneously unseating Rafael Nadal from a slot in the quarter-finals and becoming the first male tennis player to make it to the quarter-finals on his first year. In 2015, he reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open (the first Aussie to do so since 2005) but was beat by Andy Murray.
Kyrgios’ style has been described as electrifying and unconventional. According to a story by The New Yorker, Roger Federer’s former coach Paul Annacone called him “the most talented player since Roger Federer”.
At number 27, Nick Kyrgios remains the highest-ranked Aussie in the Association of Tennis Professionals’ official rankings.
Controversies
Though it isn’t uncommon for frustration to get the best of professional tennis players, Nick Kyrgios might as well be the poster child for a tennis player with a temper.
One of Nick Kyrgios’ most famous outbursts was his spat with Stanislas Wawrinka at the Rogers Cup. Nick was heard telling Wawrinka that Aussie player Thanis Kokkinakis “banged his girlfriend”; it remains unclear whether it was done out of anger, or was an attempt to knock Wawrinka off his game.
In a piece by Kevin Mitchell for The Guardian, he says that Nick Kyrgios has the gift of “pushing the right buttons, then leaving the room with questions unanswered, arguments raging”.
Most recently, Nick swore up a storm at umpire Fergus Murphy during his match with Spaniard Roberto Carballés Baena at Queens, accusing Murphy of “taking the piss” for making calls he didn’t agree with and even insulting his “ridiculous hat”. Naturally, Nick received a violation for unsportsmanlike behaviour.
Nick has also been in a longstanding feud with Rafa Nadal (and it doesn’t help his reputation that Rafa is one of the world’s most beloved players in the world). He’s lobbed some choice words at Nadal through the years, and a July 2019 match between the two was followed intently by media and fans alike. Unsurprisingly, Kyrgios pulled some tricks, such as an underarm serve in what seemed like an attempt to tease Rafa. He also served the umpire a few insults, saying he was being “horrendous”.
Nick has also been called out for not being dedicated enough to the sport and has been accused of tanking or purposely throwing games.
Who Is Nick Kyrgios’ Girlfriend?
Being such an explosive personality on the court, it’s nice to see a change of pace in Nick when he’s with his girl Alja Tomljanovic. However, though their relationship was at one point #CoupleGoals, they’ve also gone on the rocks at one point.
Nick reportedly started dating Ajla Tomljanovic in 2015, at the height of his career. Ajla is a Croatian professional tennis player who chose to represent Australia professionally in 2014. Ajla officially changed her nationality to Australian in 2018 after a long and grueling process. Ajla hit it big in 2015, when she upset Jelena Janovic at the Brisbane international.
From 2015 to 2016, Ajla Tomljanovic and Nick Kyrgios were frequently seen together, and even became partners in a doubles match at the Australian Open.
The couple had been described as having and on and off relationship all the way till 2017, when rumours started circulating that the couple officially split. Though they were still seen together in March of 2017, it seemed that Nick’s forced retirement at Wimbledon that year due to an injury had put him in a slump.
Kyrgios was seen partying with some girls not too long after the loss, and soon after that scandal, news broke that the two had called it quits. Ajla even deactivated her social media, but not before unfollowing her ex-boyfriend.
In 2019, during a match between Ajla and Ukranian player Dayana Yastremska at the Thailand Open, Nick came to Ajla’s defence in typical Nick Kyrgios fashion. He called Dayana’s medical time-out “trash”.
These days, it’s unclear whether Nick and Ajla are still dating, as they have not been seen together as of late.
Conclusion
We don’t really know what happened to Nick and Ajla, but we can only hope that the pro tennis couple are still in love. It’s refreshing to see two formidable tennis pros support each other the way they do, even through all their ups and downs.
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