WIMBLEDON, England — Stefanos Tsitsipas called Nick Kyrgios a “bully” after he was beaten by the Australian in a volatile “circus” of a third-round match at Wimbledon on Saturday.
Kyrgios won 6-7 (2), 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (7) to reach the fourth round of the All England Club for the first time since 2016, but not without three faults on codes issued during a match — one to Kyrgios for vocal profanity and two to Tsitsipas for ball abuse, earning a point penalty.
After the match, fourth-seeded Tsitsipas said Kyrgios had an “evil side” and must have been a “bully at school” because of the way he behaved throughout the match.
“It’s constant harassment; that’s what he does,” Tsitsipas said. “He bullies opponents. He was probably bullied at school himself. I don’t like bullies. I don’t like people who put other people down.
“He also has some good traits in his character, but … he also has a very evil side to him that, if exposed, could really do a lot of harm and harm to those around him.”
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Kyrgios replied: “To come here and say I bullied him is putting it mildly. We are not cut from the same cloth. I’m going up against guys who are real competitors. If he’s affected by it today, then it’s holding him back because somebody can just do that and it’s going to throw him off his game that way. I just think it’s soft.”
Much of the drama revolved around an incident late in the second set when Tsitsipas threw a ball into the corner stands, narrowly missing a spectator.
Kyrgios immediately argued with the referee, saying Tsitsipas should be timed out, adding that if he had, he would have been sent off. He then asked for a meeting with a supervisor, but was not happy with the reaction of chair umpire Damien Dumusois with a warning.
“What are you talking about, brother?” Kyrios Dumusois asked. “Bring out more supervisors. I’m not done. Get them all out. I don’t care … I’m not going to play until we get to the bottom of this.”
Tsitsipas later apologized for kicking the ball into the corner.
“Look, I have to say it was really bad of me,” he said. “I’ve never done that before, throwing the ball out of the court like that. I apologized to people. I don’t know what went through my head at the time.
“I think with the whole circus act on the other side of the net it started to get very tiring in a way. This happens. I didn’t hit people. Hit the wall, thank God. I will certainly never do it again. It’s my responsibility for sure. But there was also something that created this behavior that I’m not used to seeing myself.”
Kyrgios’ problems with the chair umpire began in the first set when he was disturbed by a reversed call by a linesman and demanded that official be removed, which did not happen.
More antics were coming from both players. From underarm serves hit by Kyrgios – including one between his legs – to three shots aimed right at him by Tsitsipas.
Kyrgios said after the match that he had done nothing wrong.
“I don’t know what to say,” Kyrgios said. “I’m not sure how I harassed him. He was the one who hit me with balls. He was the one who hit a spectator. He was the one who threw him out of the stadium. I didn’t do anything . . . except just walk forward- back to the ref for a bit, I didn’t do anything to Stefanos today that was disrespectful, I don’t think. I wasn’t hitting him with balls.”
The Greek star admitted he tried to hit Kyrgios a few times but said he thought there should be some sort of rule to stop players behaving the way the Australian sometimes does.
“Every point I played today, I felt like something was happening on the other side of the net,” Tsitsipas said. “I try not to get distracted by it because I know it could be intentional because he can certainly play another way. And that’s his way of manipulating the opponent and making you feel distracted, in a sense.
“There is no other player who does that. There is no other player who is so upset and frustrated all the time about something. It works so easily and so quickly.”
The players hit 118 winners on Court #1 in a match that lasted 3 hours and 17 minutes.
“He’s very different. That’s not a bad thing,” Tsitsipas said of Kyrgios, adding that the Australian star is good for the sport in some ways. “But I don’t think there’s been a single game I’ve played with him where he’s behaved like that. There comes a point where you really get tired of it, shall we say.
“The constant talk. The constant complaints. I mean, I’m about to serve and there’s a big gap there, not playing tennis, which is the most important thing on the court. We are there to play tennis. We’re not there to have conversations and dialogues with other people … especially when you really know that the referee is not going to overturn what he’s decided, you know.”
Kyrgios will play American Brandon Nakashima in the fourth round.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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