Wimbledon runner-up Nick Kyrgios has reignited his feud with Stefanos Tsitsipas following the pair's fiery clash at Wimbledon.
This week, the controversial Australian is returning to action for the first time since his run at SW19 when he plays in the Atlanta Open. Following that, he'll continue his build-up to the US Open by competing in the Citi Open in Washington.
There, he'll not only play in the singles event, but also in the doubles. The Canberra man landed his first Grand Slam title of any kind in February when he partnered compatriot Thanasi Kokkinakis to victory at the Australian Open.
This time around though, he'll be teaming up with American player Jack Sock. And in an interview posted online by the @WeAreTennis Twitter account, Kyrgios humorously revealed he had previously played at the same venue alongside his new Greek rival.
"We got a lot of doubles," he said, previewing the Citi Open. "We got doubles in DC. Which I'm super excited about. My last partner - yeah, I've had Stefanos as a partner there so can't get much worse than that so I'm really excited."
Sock, 29, was also involved in the video call, and tried to make a comical getaway: "I think it's my time to get out of here," he said, whilst laughing.
After being beaten by Kyrgios in a fiery match by Kyrgios in four sets on Court One, Tsitsipas, 23 accused Kyrgios of having an "evil side" and labelled him a "bully." As things got heated, both players were awarded code violations after losing their temper.
Tsitsipas was fined £8,250 for his incident, while Kyrgios was forced to pay £3,300 for his inappropriate language. And the unsavoury stuff didn't end there, with the Greek player later taking to Twitter to continue the feud by posting: "My ability and capacity to acknowledge I was wrong is largely determined by the attitude of the person I’m arguing with."
It was an eventful fortnight at SW19 for Kyrgios, who was also fined after his first-round match with Paul Jubb for admitting to spitting in the direction of a spectator. He was also hit with a financial penalty following his final defeat to Novak Djokovic, again for using inappropriate language on Centre Court.
