Hollywood A-listers know they’ll be noticed when they attend high-profile tennis matches, but it’s not often that they become a feature of the match itself.
However, that’s exactly what happened to Ben Stiller yesterday (17 March), when Australian pro Nick Kyrgios dragged him into an argument during his match with Rafael Nadal.
Kyrgios, who has a history of volatile on-court behaviour, began quarrelling with a member of the crowd whom he accused of disrupting him during the match.
“Are you playing?” he asked the spectator. “Are you good at tennis? Exactly. So why are you speaking?”
Gesturing over at Stiller, he added: “Do I tell him how to act? No.”
The Meet the Fockers star can then be seen in the crowd grinning at the remark.
Clips of the incident have been shared online, with fans sharing their amusement over the encounter.
“ I’m here for a Ben Stiller-Nick Kyrgios movie, for what it’s worth,” wrote Australian sports broadcaster Lachlan McKirdy.
“Did Nick Kyrgios just sledge… Ben Stiller?” joked one fan.
“Nadal. Kyrgios. Ben Stiller. What a match,” wrote another.
Kyrgios lost the match in three sets to Nadal, with the Spanish tennis legend progressing through to the semi-finals of the Indian Wells competition.
The match was marred by a number of disciplinary infractions by Kyrgios, including a time violation and a point penalty for telling a member of the crowd to “shut the f*** up”.
He also issued an apology on Instagram for smashing his racquet on the ground in frustration, after the equipment bounced up and nearly hit a ball boy.
