Yoshihito Nishioka is at it again. After losing out to Marcos Giron in the opening round of the Japan Open, he was visibly upset and broke down. Even more significant is that this is not the first time he has emoted and vented like this to a loss and thus, received hilarious responses from fans.
Social media chose to term his after-match actions to be similar to “Monday Mood” with a share of sad emoticons to go with it. Some of them reacted to his behavior, “Does this guy never not cry/complain?” thus choosing to jab at how it has become common for him to cry foul and complain after losing. While others chose to troll him by saying, “Oh, why…It is still first round…”
Does this guy never not cry/complain? https://t.co/HKLaU9qVUT
— Runar Hansson (@runarhansson) October 16, 2023
Fans believed that Nishioka should be investigated for the way he has blatantly tanked during tennis matches. This aspect of his game is criticized as this was the way he lost to Cristian Garin at Indian Wells and Casper Ruud at Shanghai when he was blanked in the final set. To do that in front of his home crowd who have come out in numbers and paid good money to watch him play is even more disappointing.
Nishioka needs to be disciplined for blatantly tanking
He did it vs Garin at Indian Wells
He did it vs Ruud in Shanghai
And he did it today vs Giron, in front of his own fans who paid good money to come watch him try his hardest
The ATP Tour needs to discipline Nishioka.
— Dan’s Picks (@danspickz) October 16, 2023
The match was tightly contested for the first two sets. The first set went into a tie-break and it was a hard-fought affair with Giron taking it 16-14. In the next set, Yoshihito Nishioka showed some fight to take it 6-4. But, it was way too easy for Marcos in the final set. After the American took an early break, it was like one-way traffic as Nishioka surrendered the set 6-1, and with it the match, rather meekly.
How has the season been so far for Yoshihito Nishioka
In Grand Slams too, Nishioka has made a mark this season, reaching the fourth round of both, the Australian Open and the French Open. But, controversy and altercations with match officials don’t seem to subside, wherever he goes. At the Roland-Garros he had been penalized a point for arguing with the referee and asking, ‘Show me the video’ so as to prove that his shot was actually a winner.
Off the court, Yoshihito is doing some good work for the juniors in Japan. It was during the Covid time, that many juniors lost their motivation to practice, as there weren’t many tournaments in which they could participate. Nishioka opened up a tournament known as ‘Yoshi’s Cup’ so that it could be helpful for the youngsters to take their game to the next level.
Yoshihito’s activities off the court do make sense and vouch for the welfare of the next generation. But, his meltdowns and anger outbursts during matches portray him to be sort of a gimmick that the fans and social media feed on. If he has a check on it, he could establish himself as an enterprising name in the world of tennis.