At the US Open, player-commentators become part of the story

NEW YORK : Nick Kyrgios and Chris Eubanks are making headlines with the microphone instead of the racket at Flushing Meadows this year, as the player-commentators find themselves in the spotlight at the U.S. Open.

Kyrgios, a quarter-finalist in 2002, is providing commentary by the court for ESPN and trading barbs with critics on social media. The Australian has not been shy to express an opinion.

"I'm always going to be outspoken," said Kyrgios, who has struggled with injury in recent years and has only played one tour match since the Japan Open in October 2022.

"At the same time it's hard to kind of disagree with what I'm saying most of the time because I've played these guys before - I've beaten all the GOATs (Greatest Of All Time) of the game."

Kyrgios, who said in December he believes he has only a couple more years of playing left in him, has not been afraid to dive into controversy, even when it put him at odds with his ESPN colleagues.

He offered to coach Coco Gauff following her fourth-round exit, after a blogger suggested her coach Brad Gilbert, an on-air commentator for ESPN, be shown the door.

And the Australian Open doubles winner said he would welcome a chance to interview Italian Jannik Sinner after the top seed found himself in the middle of a doping furore days before the tournament began.

Sinner was cleared of wrongdoing despite failing two drug tests this year and he escaped a ban, with Kyrgios among the leading voices say the outcome amounted to double standards.

"Ridiculous - whether it was accidental or planned," he wrote on social media ahead of the tournament. "You get tested twice with a banned (steroid) substance... you should be gone for two years."

Asked about Kyrios' remarks - and the possibility of