Stefanos Tsitsipas has accused Nick Kyrgios of having an "evil side" and labelled him a "bully" after their fiery Wimbledon third-round clash which the Australian won 6-7 (2-7) 6-4 6-3 7-6 (9-7) on Court One.
Tsitsipas was stunning on Court One as he fell to the outspoken Kyrgios in a dramatic four-set clash, which saw both players awarded code violations after losing their temper. It set the tone for a dramatic clash that captivated tennis fans for better or for worse.
Kyrgios had already received a warning for an obscenity by then, while Tsitsipas was given a point penalty for a second code violation as he responded to an underarm serve by hitting the ball away in frustration.
The fourth seed apologised after he frustratedly smashed a ball into the crowd in anger which narrowly avoided the head of a fan. However, he claimed he was ‘triggered’ by the behaviour of his Australian opponent.
Kyrgios called for Tsitsipas to be defaulted for the incident and kicked off a constant exchange with the umpire during the heated four-set match while insisting he did nothing to ‘disrespect’ or ‘bully’ his opponent during the match.
“It’s constant bullying, that’s what he does,” Tsitsipas said. “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 has some good traits in his character, as well. But he also has a very evil side to him, which if it’s exposed, it 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 absolute normal from my side to act and do something about it.”
Afterwards, Kyrgios responded to being branded a bully by Tsitsipas in characteristic fashion as he declared: “I'm not sure how I was able to bully someone in the third round of Wimbledon. I was just playing tennis.”
Kyrgios will play American rising star Brandon Nakashima in the next round after the 20-year-old beat Colombian Daniel Galan 6-4 6-4 6-1. In his on-court interview, Kyrgios said: “Honestly, it was a hell of an atmosphere, an amazing match.
Do you think Nick Kyrgios is a 'bully' on court at Wimbledon? Let us know in the comments section.
“I felt like the favourite coming in, I beat [Tsitsipas] a couple of weeks ago. He's a hell of a player, he knows how to beat me, he's beaten me once.
“I’m so happy to be through. He was getting frustrated at times. It is a frustrating sport.
“I have ultimate respect for him, whatever happens on the court I love him and I'm close with his brother. It's amazing, everywhere I go I seem to have full stadiums.
“The media loves to say I'm bad for the sport but clearly I'm not.”
