Andy Murray backs Australia's Nick Kyrgios over Olympic spot

World No 2 Andy Murray has backed Australia's Nick Kyrgios over his behaviour admitting that he 'doesn't understand' why his Olympic spot is in jeopardy. The Scot felt that Kyrgios has made significant steps to curb his temper and is being unfairly treated by Australian Olympic officials.

The 21-year-old has been involved in a number of issues related to his behaviour in the past which are of concern to Australia's chef de mission Kitty Chiller. He is reported to have said that the girlfriend sledge against Stan Wawrinka last year is of particular concern.

The Scot, who won his maiden Rome Masters title after beating Novak Djokovic on 15 May, while speaking to the Daily Mail was of the opinion that such things were in the past.

"I know him away from the court and he is a good guy. He is funny, polite, makes fun of himself, he doesn't take himself too seriously. And I think he seems to be learning all the time."

"Every week just know he is doing well. He's playing matches, he's travelling more, he's playing more events. So I hope that he is there at the Rio Olympics. I don't understand it, but I guess because tennis players are famous, everything they do gets seen, on a daily basis almost. But I think Nick's behaved pretty good this year."

Kyrgios has reaffirmed his full commitment to the Australian Olympic team even launching an online poll asking fans whether they believe that he should be on a plane to Rio. Chiller though is not impressed, alleging that he "doesn't really understand what it means to be an Australian Olympian".

Kyrgios is in the form of his life, with only World No 1 Novak Djokovic boasting more wins over top 10-ranked players than the Australian this year. His strong performances have seen him move up to 19 in the world tennis rankings.