NBA superstar D’Angelo Russell lets Nick Kyrgios know he’s watching him at the Australian Open

NBA superstar D’Angelo Russell declared his support to Nick Kyrgios by telling him he was watching him play at the Australian Open – but fans quickly noticed that it is a gaffe.

Golden State Warriors point and shooting guard Russell shared an image on Twitter on Wednesday which showed him watch Kyrgios playing, adding the caption: ‘Tuned in’.

Tuned in @NickKyrgios ✊🏾 pic.twitter.com/1n3YlmeiSi

— D'Angelo Russell (@Dloading) January 22, 2020

Kyrgios, on his part, was thankful for the support, retweeting the post before replying: ‘I’m watching and supporting you too my brother.’

Fans initially pointed out that Kyrgios was on an off day at the Open, and thus couldn’t be competing live.

Not live bro,’ one fan responded.

‘He’ll be back on for 2nd round tomorrow at 4pm,’ another added.

But soon everyone realised that the image wasn’t from the 2020 Australian Open at all and wasn’t even played Down Under.

https://twitter.com/mosface31/status/1101742723420299264

The image was actually from a match between Kyrgios and world number one Rafael Nadal in Mexico last February.

‘It’s a match against Nadal from some other tournament,’ one fan wrote.

‘Look closely he’s watching a rerun of Kyrgios Nadal,’ another replied.

Meanwhile, Kyrgios easily downed Italian Lorenzo Sonego 6-2, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (1) in straight sets victory in the first round of the Australian Open.

Kyrgios admitted that he was edgy as he took the court given his entire focus on the Australian bushfires and his involvement in raising funds, before adding that he was playing ‘for a lot of people’.

‘Just with everything going on, walking out there, I was a lot more nervous than I have been in previous matches,’ he said.

‘Australian Open, I usually feel pretty comfortable.

‘The crowd was unbelievable. I got comfortable quite early in the match. I played an unbelievable first set, which helped. I thought the pressure kind of eased off after I won that first set (but) he didn’t go away.’

When asked whether he feels like he’s better able to focus when he’s playing for an extra cause, Kyrgios answered: ‘Yeah, for sure. I guess it’s just a perspective thing, isn’t it?’ he said.

‘Why am I really getting mad on the tennis court with everything going on?

‘Every match I’ve played this year, I’ve been pretty good. It’s probably because of everything going on.’

The focus will be back on Kyrgios during his second-round match against France’s Gilles Simon on Thursday.