By Amy Tennery
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Nick Kyrgios and Chris Eubanks made headlines this year at Flushing Meadows for using a microphone instead of a racket, and commentators took center stage at the U.S. Open.

Kyrgios, a 2002 quarter-finalist, commentated on the match for ESPN and traded barbs with critics on social media. The Australian has not been shy about expressing his opinions.

“At the same time, it’s hard to disagree with what I’m saying most of the time because I’ve played with these guys before – I’ve beaten all the GOATs in this game.”

Kyrgios, who said in December he believed he only had a few years left in the game, has not been afraid to engage in controversy, even when it put him at odds with his ESPN colleagues.

He offered to become Coco Gauff’s coach following her fourth-round exit after a blogger suggested her coach, ESPN commentator Brad Gilbert, should be asked to leave.

The Australian Open doubles champion said he would be happy to interview Italian Jannik Sinner after the world number one seed found himself at the centre of a doping scandal just days before the tournament began.

Sinner was cleared of the charges despite failing drug tests twice this year to avoid a ban, with Kyrgios leading the charge that the ruling amounts to double standards.

“This is ridiculous – whether it was accidental or planned,” he wrote on social media before the tournament. “You get tested twice for a banned substance (steroid)… you should disappear for two years.”

Asked about Kyrios’s statement – and the possibility of meeting the Australian in New York – Sinner said: “Everyone has the right to say whatever they want.”

Asked Tuesday who he would most like to talk to in New York, Kyrgios told a group of reporters: “Jannik Sinner, with everything that’s going on, I think we could have an interesting conversation.”

Sinner will play in the semifinals against Russian Daniil Medvedev at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Wednesday.

After crashing out in the first round last week at Flushing Meadows, American Eubanks quickly swapped his tennis shoes for a suit and tie and then took up his role as a commentator.

A moment with longtime friend Coco Gauff went viral when the defending champion struggled to hold back giggles on the practice courts early in the tournament.

“It’s weird being interviewed by you,” Gauff told her Olympic teammate.

For Eubanks, “weird” may be the most controversial term, as he realizes he may soon run into his locker room conversation partners again.

“I want the players to feel comfortable seeing me,” said Eubanks, who had a dream run to the Wimbledon quarterfinals last year.

“I have to see these guys 40 weeks a year. They can’t say, ‘Oh, here’s the media guy.’

(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by Peter Rutherford)

Disclaimer: This report is generated automatically by Reuters news service. ThePrint is not responsible for its content.