The epic clash between two of the sport’s biggest names has taken a dramatic turn after Stefanos Tsitsipas accused Nick Kyrgios of being a ‘bully’ during an explosive press conference at Wimbledon.
The Greek lost to Kyrgios in four sets during what was a highly confrontational encounter that saw the Australian argue with the umpire, as well as Tsitsipas getting penalized for his own actions after hitting a ball into the stands. Something he later claimed was triggered by the antics of his rival. The world No.5 has now slammed what he describes as a ‘circus’ performance from his rival.
“I don’t think there has been a single match I have played with him that he was behaving that way. There comes a point where you really get tired of it,” Tsitsipas said of Kyrgios’ behavior.
“The constant talking, the constant complaining. I mean, I’m about to serve, and there is a big gap there that there is no tennis being played, which is the most important thing in the court. We are there to play tennis. We are not there to have conversations and dialogues with other people,” he added.
During the third round encounter, Kyrgios was heard arguing with the umpire about lines officials and said that Tsitsipas should have been defaulted for hitting the ball out of the court. The Australian has since been accused by some of conducting such antics to put off his opponent but it is an accusation he denies.
Although the most extraordinary claim from Tsitsipas was that Kyrgios had an ‘evil side’ and was a bully on the court. One of the harshest comments made about him by a fellow player on the Tour.
“It’s constant bullying, that’s what he does. He bullies the opponents. He was probably a bully at school himself. I don’t like bullies. I don’t like people that put other people down,” he commented.
“He has some good traits in his character, as well. But he also has a very evil side to him, which if exposed, can really do a lot of harm and bad to the people around him.’
“Myself, when I feel like other people disrespect me and don’t respect what I’m doing from the other side of the court, it’s absolutely normal from my side to act and do something about it.”
Kyrgios is no stranger to controversy after being handed multiple fines, including at this year’s Wimbledon, as well as being provisionally suspended from the ATP Tour for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Now Tsitsipas has openly endorsed the idea of a group of players teaming up in order to address his behavior in some form of intervention should such an opportunity ever come about.
“There is no other player that does this. There is no other player that is so upset and frustrated all the time with something. It triggers it so easy and so fast,” Tsitsipas continues.
“I really hope all us players can come up with something and make this a cleaner version of our sport, have this kind of behavior not accepted, not allowed, not tolerated, and move on better.”
Kyrgios rejects the bullying label
During his on-court interview, Kyrgios said he had a lot of ‘love’ for Tsitsipas prior to the bullying comments. During his press conference, the 27-year-old was stunned to hear what his peer had said about him.
“I’m not sure how I bullied him. He was the one hitting balls at me, he was the one that hit a spectator, he was the one that smacked it out of the stadium,” Kyrgios responded. “Apart from me just going back and forth to the umpire for a bit, I did nothing towards Stefanos today that was disrespectful, I don’t think. I was not drilling him with balls.”
Continuing on the offensive, the former top 20 star went on to imply that Tsitsipas’ words are linked to the fact he has beaten him twice within the past month. Kyrgios won their meeting in Halle where he also came back from a set down.
As for calls for a player intervention into his behavior, he was far from thrilled about the idea.
“I would be pretty upset if I lost to someone two weeks in a row, as well. Maybe he should figure out how to beat me a couple more times first and then get to that.” He said.
In another jibe, Kyrgios claimed Tsitsipas was ‘not liked’ in the locker room without elaborating any further.
