Tsitsipas nails Kyrgios to the ‘bully’ and the Australian counterattacks

Tennis – Wimbledon – All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, UK – July 2, 2022 Nick Kyrgios of Australia with Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece after winning his third round match REUTERS / Hannah Mckay

LONDON, July 2 (Reuters) – Greek fourth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas called Nick Kyrgios a “bully” with “a bad side” to his character after losing a moody third-round clash at Wimbledon on Saturday .

Kyrgios came out on top by 6-7 (2) 6-4 6-3 7-6 (7) after more than three hours full of incidents, but the feud continued at post-match press conferences.

Kyrgios had maintained a running dialogue with the referee at times during the match, he was warned to insult and annoy his opponent to such an extent that Tsitsipas tried to hit him with a blow after being close to being breached by hit a ball with frustration. the crowd.

The young Tsitsipas, 23, was booed by the crowd at one point after losing his temper in what he described as a Kyrgios circus. After his defeat on track 1, Tsitsipas made his feelings known without a doubt.

“Yeah, he’s a constant bully, that’s what he does. He harasses opponents. He was probably himself a bully at school. I don’t like bullies,” Tsitsipas said.

“I don’t like people who depress others. He also has some good traits in his character. But he also has a very bad side, which if exposed, can really do a lot of harm and bad to people who surrounded “.

Kyrgios, fined $ 10,000 after his first-round match for spitting at a fan, was warned to swear on Saturday and then asked Tsitsipas to be breached after the Greek touched a ball near a spectator’s head. after losing the second set.

He then laughed at Tsitsipas’ comments about school bullying and said the Greek had “serious problems”.

“I don’t know what to say. I don’t know how I harassed him. He was the one who hit me balls, he was the one who hit a spectator, he was the one who got him out of the stadium.” say Kyrgios, who is in the round of 16 for the fourth time.

“Today I didn’t do anything with Stefanos that was disrespectful. I wasn’t punching him with balls. Coming here and saying I intimidated him, it’s soft. We’re not cut from the same cloth. I faced guys who are. Real competitors.” .

“I have a lot of friends in the locker room, just to let you know. In fact I’m one of the ones I liked the most. I’m ready. He doesn’t like it. Let’s put it there.”

Tsitsipas apologized for losing control, but said it was frustrating for the referees not to face the Australian more harshly whose talent is often overshadowed by his passes.

“I wish we could all get together and set a rule. I don’t know. Something about talking. Why would you talk while you’re playing? It doesn’t make sense,” he said.

“Every point I played today I feel like there was something on the other side of the net.

“That’s their way of manipulating the opponent and making you feel distracted, somehow. There’s no other player doing that. I really hope all players can invent something and make this one more version. net of our sport, to have this. kind of behavior not accepted, not allowed, not tolerated “.

Kyrgios later said Tsitsipas should be more concerned about his record losses against him, after he was recently defeated at Halle. “I would be very upset if I lost to someone two weeks in a row. Maybe I should figure out how to win me a couple of times earlier,” the Australian said.

Tsitsipas acknowledged that he had tried to hit Kyrgios with a blow in the third set.

“I was aiming at my rival’s body, but I missed him a lot,” he said. “I’m not used to playing that way. But I can’t sit there, act like a robot and act like someone completely cold and ignorant.

“Because you’re there doing your job and you have noise coming from the other side of the track for no absolute reason.”

Report by Martyn Herman; edition by Clare Fallon and Christian Radnedge

Our standards: the principles of trust of Thomson Reuters.

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