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Nick Kyrgios slams Aussie legend's advice to quit "distracting" social media

Xinhua, May 31, 2016 Adjust font size:

Enigmatic Australian tennis player Nick Kyrgios has laughed off suggestion that he should quit social media to focus on his tennis after Australian great and Wimbledon winner Pat Cash urged the young star to take his match preparation more seriously.

Cash, the 1987 Wimbledon winner, is the latest in a long line of high-profile Aussie sportspeople to tee-off at the up-and-coming tennis player, but Kyrgios has refuted suggestion that his social media habits are distracting him from tennis.

"Haha, 'ditch social media,' can people keep their opinions to themselves please. Leave me alone. This is my last tweet for you Cashy," the world No. 19 tweeted on Tuesday.

Earlier, Cash suggested the 21-year-old delete his Twitter account, use that social media time to practice harder, and stop reading newspapers to make a push into tennis' top 10.

He said Kyrgios' interaction with his 157,000 Twitter followers was only taking time off preparing for big matches, such as those at the French Open.

"Everything that wasn't involved in me improving as a tennis player was a distraction to me," Cash said overnight, speaking of his own experience.

"So I just focused on being the best I could be. That (meant) working hard," Cash said.

"I did less and less media and I wasn't all that popular doing that, but in the end you walk away and get invited to events (held for former grand slam winners)."

"I've got my name on a couple of (winners') boards somewhere, that's what I play for, to be successful and be the best I can be. It'd be a pity for Nick not to do that," he added.

Cash is the latest to question Kyrgios' commitment to the game, after the head of Australia's Olympic Committee threatened to ban him from traveling to the Rio Games.

Kitty Chiller, chief of mission for Australia at the 2016 Summer Olympics, said the young star's attitude was not what the Australian Olympic team embodied, while Australian Olympic legend Dawn Fraser also criticized Kyrgios' on-court attitudes. Endit