Bartoli boost: Former Wimblebon winner in the Kyrgios corner

2013 Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli has gone all-in on support for Nick Kyrgios with the Frenchwoman backing the controversial Aussie despite his notorious on-court antics.

Bartoli told Ubitennis that the Canberra wild man who has reached the Wimbledon quarters for the second time in nine years is a breath of fresh air for the sometimes-stagnating sport’s same-old, same-old.

“Nick is a peculiar guy. You like him or you don’t like him. There is no middle ground with him,” the current TV tennis commentator said.

“We need people like that in tennis, with a different character than what we are used to on the circuit.

“It would not be good if everyone acted in the same way.”

Bartoli did admit that the Kyrgios behaviour can often get out of hand.

“The limit is when you start to go against the referee, but he brings something new and different that makes tennis exciting.

“He’s having a good year. He got a lot of confidence playing on grass before Wimbledon.

 “He loves playing on this surface and that’s amazing,”