【Tina Tyler Archives】

Over the weekend,Tina Tyler Archives the NFL knee protest really went bombastic, with hundreds of players staging a protest during the pre-match national anthems after Trump's rants against them.

So naturally when Australian tennis player Nick Kyrgios took a knee in centre court before his Laver Cup match against Roger Federer, everyone thought about a show of solidarity with the NFL players:

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Kyrgios isn't new to political statements. In January, he wore a "Fuck Donald Trump" T-shirt at a press conference:

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Users noted that Kyrgios and Colin Kapernick, the 49ers quarterback who started the knee protest last September, shared the same agent, Carlos Fleming at WME|IMG:

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

However, in this case at least, it looks like Kyrgios' gesture was a "personal tribute" rather than a political protest:

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

In a post-match press conference, Kyrgios said: "I'm doing that before most matches just to remember, you know, the two most important people that have passed away."

Asked whether kneeling was in solidarity with the NFL players, he said: "Fuck no. Serious?"

It isn't clear exactly who he is remembering, but ABC Australia says he was very close to his grandfather and grandmother who passed away.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

(Editor: {typename type="name"/})