The 64-year-old Connors, a famous firebrand through a long
career boasting eight grand slam titles, fittingly made his
approach on Twitter, a medium favored highly by the moody
21-year-old, recently banned from the tour for two months.
"Kyrgios-- you want to be the best-- come see me-- you will
learn to play, excite, and to win!! It's you choice-- or just be
mediocre!gd luck," Connors tweeted.
Connors previously served a 19-month stint as coach for
compatriot Andy Roddick from 2006 to 2008, guiding the grand
slam winner to a U.S. Open final and five ATP titles.
However, his last high-profile coaching gig, with Maria
Sharapova in 2013, was over as soon as it began, the Russian
former world number one firing him after a single match.
Kyrgios and Connors might seem a perfect match in some ways,
with both having won applause for their tennis and showmanship,
and drawn condemnation for their boorish behavior on and off the
court.
But simply pinning down world number 14 Kyrgios may be beyond
even the powers of the man nicknamed 'The Brash Basher of
Belleville' by Bud Collins, the late Hall of Fame journalist and
broadcaster.
Kyrgios, now serving a minimum three-week ban for misconduct at
the Shanghai Masters, has said he is content to fly solo and
reckoned his questionable work ethic might not appeal to the
tour's top coaches.
"One week I'm pretty motivated to train and play," he said at
Wimbledon.
"One week I'll just not do anything. I don't really know a coach
out there that would be pretty down for that one."
(Editing by Sudipto Ganguly)
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