The Australian, who was beaten in the 2022 Wimbledon final by Novak Djokovic, had his temperament frequently questioned after on-court outbursts and meltdowns early in his career, but denied he was “a bad boy”.

“I guess I was branded that just because I was a bit outside the circle of what a normal tennis player is,” he added.

“I don’t think I carry that perception with the Aussie public anymore. But at the start of my career, people thought I was like a murderer.”

With long-time rival Rafael Nadal announcing his retirement last week and Djokovic now 37, Kyrgios – who has been working as a commentator during his absence – believes the game is “the most open it has ever been”.

Last week, Australian Open chief Craig Tiley said he hoped Kyrgios would play at the season-opening Grand Slam, which starts in Melbourne Park on 12 January.

He added that the player would be in the main draw, whether through a protected ranking or a wildcard, as opposed to being forced through qualifying.

“The confidence that we get about Nick playing is in his preparation, we know he’s doing more than he’s done before,” he said.

“We know that he wants to do it. We know that he’s mentally preparing to get ready to play in January. So we fully expect to see him.”

CONOR MCGREGOR has renewed his war of words with UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad with a vicious social media threat.

The pair have traded verbal jabs on social media over the years, with McGregor igniting their feud back in November 2021.

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Muhammad found himself on the receiving end of an X-rated rant from the former two-division champ late last month and responded by mocking the Irishman over his octagon hiatus.

And he felt McGregor’s wrath again last Sunday in a since-deleted tweet as he went back and forth with UFC men’s featherweight champ Ilia Topuria.

He wrote on X: “I’d love to crush my left hook into Belal’s temple and take down the triple crown.

“I’d do it easily. And fast! I’d cave his skull heavy.”

Palestinian-born American Muhammad became the king of the welterweights in July with a dominant five-round display over Brit Leon Edwards in Manchester.

His dethroning of Edwards capped off an incredible run, in which he knocked off former title challengers Stephen Thompson and Gilbert Burns as well as highly-touted prospect Sean Brady.

But McGregor has been less than impressed by the 36-year-old’s body of work in his run to welterweight gold.

He continued: “To think this bum is now a UFC champion with zero knockdowns on his resume whatsoever is so bad.

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“The UFC’s most abysmal zero revenue generating fighter in modern history.”

McGregor, 36, hasn’t set foot inside the octagon since breaking his left leg in his trilogy fight with Dustin Poirier in July 2021.

The Dubliner was supposed to make his cage comeback against Michael Chandler in June but was forced out of their long-overdue clash with a broken left pinky toe.

McGregor revealed to SunSport that he was eyeing a December return, although the UFC brass have pushed the rescheduled return of the Mac into 2025.

And he claimed last weekend that he’s on course to return to the cage on February 1.

When quizzed about his cage comeback, he told MMA reporter Donagh Corby: “February 1, Saudi Arabia. Dan Hooker.”

UFC analysts Michael Chiesa and Alan Jouban previewed Belal Muhammad vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov.

Welterweight champion Muhammad (24-3 MMA, 15-3 UFC) makes his first title defense against undefeated Rakhmonov (18-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) in the UFC 310 main event on Dec. 7 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN2, ESPN+).

Chiesa, who faces Max Griffin on the same night, thinks Muhammad’s resume cannot be discounted. While he’s not necessarily picking him to win, he wouldn’t be surprised if Muhammad bounced Rakhmonov out of the ranks of the unbeaten.

“It would be easy for people to discredit and dismiss Belal because when you look at Shavkat Rakhmonov, 18-0 with 10 submissions and 8 KOs, (he’s) the boogeyman of the division right now,” Chiesa told ESPN. “But you look at Belal’s strength of schedule in his last six fights: Demian Maia, who was ranked when he fought him; (Stephen) ‘Wonderboy’ (Thompson), who was ranked above the top 10; Vicente Luque, who was ranked (No.) 5 when he fought him.

“Sean Brady TKO’d him, took his 0; fought Gilbert Burns on short notice in a five-round fight, beat him; and then dethrones Leon Edwards in his own backyard. Before people want to dismiss Belal Muhammad because of who he is fighting, you just look at that strength of schedule and you’ve got to remind yourself: This guy is the champion for a reason, and I would not be surprised if he took Shavkat’s 0.”

Jouban, who spoiled Muhammad’s UFC debut in a Fight of the Night battle in 2016, thinks the champion has the skills to beat well-rounded Rakhmonov.

“Belal has proven time and time again why he deserved the championship fight, he got the championship fight, and he deserves to be the champion now,” Jouban said. “He looked phenomenal against Leon Edwards. Leon Edwards is one of the better grapplers in the division. He has outgrappled guys like Gunnar Nelson and so on.

“And Belal Muhammad goes in there, dumps him on his head numerous times, outwrestled him, manhandled him. Shavkat Rakhmonov though, this guy does everything well, and so this is going to be, I think, Belal’s toughest date. But I do think that Belal does have the grappling to get it done.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 310.

Italy’s Jannik Sinner has enjoyed the most successful – and eventful – season of his career, having dominated the men’s game while the case investigating his two failed doping tests rumbles on.

The reigning Australian Open and US Open champion, who won his seventh title of the season in Shanghai on Sunday, tested positive for clostebol in March.

An independent panel, which was presented the case by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), accepted there was “no fault or negligence” attached to 23-year-old Sinner.

It said the world number one had provided a “credible” explanation and he was able to continue playing.

But the decision that Sinner bore no fault has been challenged by the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada), which has launched an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas).

No date has been set for the hearing.

“Whatever’s going to happen, I just wish for it to be resolved as soon as possible,” 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic said.

“This whole case is not helping our sport at all.”

BBC Sport analyses the key questions at the heart of a complex subject.

ARSENAL fans are hoping Real Madrid scouts watched William Saliba after his disastrous performance against Belgium.

The defender lined up for France but had a first half to forget in Brussels.

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The Arsenal star was at fault for Belgium‘s goal and he also conceded a penalty.

Saliba tried to close down Lois Openda inside the area but slipped and brought down the Belgium striker, though Aston Villa star Youri Tielemans missed the penalty.

Fans noticed Saliba was even at fault in the build-up as he played Openda onside, and he did not cover himself in glory just before half-time either.

The centre-back was caught in possession as he tried to start a run from deep, before losing track of Openda who was able to head in unmarked.

Fans were quick to criticise the 23-year-old with one saying: “Saliba disasterclass.”

A third wrote: “He let him onside and conceded the pen what a horror show.”

Real Madrid have reportedly sent scouts to watch Saliba following his impressive start to the campaign for Arsenal.

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And Gunners fans were left hoping they watched his display against Belgium as he displayed weaknesses the Premier League rarely sees.

One Arsenal supporter said: “Saliba playing like s**t on the world stage which means Madrid won’t come in for him.”

Another added: “Saliba is such a real one for putting up this stinker to ward off Real Madrid’s scouts ❤️”

Saliba performed better after half-time and helped France secure a 2-1 win, despite them having Aurelien Tchouameni sent off 15 minutes from time.