Nick Kyrgios can never stay away from the headlines, can he? Last month, the Australian star caused a massive controversy after commenting ‘second serve’ on one of his own pictures with Anna Kalinskaya on X. Kalinskaya, who is with Jannik Sinner now, was in a relationship with Kyrgios a few years back, before splitting with the Australian star. While Kyrgios is away from the tennis action, Kalinskaya is making huge waves on the WTA circuit. And the fans made sure they reminded Kyrgios of that.

Earlier today, Sinner’s girlfriend, Kalinskaya, achieved her career-best ranking of 12 on the WTA Tour. She is having one of the best years of her career, putting on consistent performances tournament after tournament. Although she has yet to win a title, consistency has helped her be on the brink of breaking into the top 10 of the WTA rankings.

On the other hand, Kyrgios could reach only the 13th spot on the ATP Tour even at the peak of his career. Although he won several titles, the Aussie technically still fell behind Kalinskaya’s best rank of No. 12.

Generally, such a comparison wouldn’t have been made, but because Kyrgios made a highly offensive comment on his own picture with Kalinskaya, fans remembered the ‘second serve’ controversy while taking a dig at him.

Kyrgios’ ‘second serve’ comment was widely criticized in the tennis world, with many calling for him to be removed from the commentary panel of the US Open final which was going on at that time. And, that controversial remark is still doing the damage. When one fan pointed out that Kalinskaya had achieved a better ranking than Kyrgios, an X user took a dig at the Aussie, saying, “Who is the second serve now Nick?”

While Kalinskaya is having a good 2024 season, her boyfriend, Sinner, is having an even better year. He has already won the Australian Open and the US Open, along with many other big titles like Shanghai Masters and the Miami Open. As a result, one of the fans felt that Sinner’s effect was rubbing on Kalinskaya, with the comment reading, “Surround yourself with a winner like Jack Sinner, good things will happen…lol.”

Another fan slammed Kyrgios, calling him an attention-seeker because of his recent comments not just on Kalinskaya, but on Sinner as well. Further, the fan was all praise for Sinner and Kalinskaya for putting on good performances this year. “@janniksin and Anna are way ahead of this trashy loser @NickKyrgios. They’ve prob forgotten abt NK’s existence but he’s begging for their attention with these comments. Pathetic,” said the fan.

Tit for tat is what Kyrgios got according to a section of fans. His offensive comment had no bearing on Kalinskaya, who has performed consistently despite controversy surrounding due to Kyrgios’ comments. Thus, one fan felt that ‘karma’ was hitting Kyrgios hard as he couldn’t take Kalinskaya’s success. Similarly, another fan pointed out how Kyrgios couldn’t stand his ex-girlfriend outperforming him. The fan revealed that they ‘loved to watch girls outperforming their ex.’

While she has achieved her best ranking now, Kalinskaya would look to convert her consistent performances into a title. She will be seen in action at the Ningbo Open where she is seeded seventh. Kalinskaya opens her campaign against Anastasia Potapova tomorrow. Can she clinch her maiden title in Ningbo? Let us know your views in the comments below.