Greek tennis player Stefanos Tsitsipas wasn’t pleased with his loss to Nick Kyrgios in their latest Wimbledon match and the 1998-born tennis player criticised Kyrgios for his “constant bullying” on the court. He further said that Kyrgios “has a very evil side to him”. Tsitsipas also used the post-match conference as an opportunity to apologise for his own disappointing behaviour in the match.
The public had anticipated the match between the two players. Indeed, they delivered one of the most intense performances in the 2022 Wimbledon. However, the match also became widely discussed due to violations from both players in the game.
This is not the first time Kyrgios gained scrutiny for his attitude on the court. He got an £8,200 fine ($10,000) for spitting in the spectator’s direction during the opening game.
Kyrgios defeated Tsitsipas by 6-7, 6-4, 6-3, and 7-6, and managed to secure his spot at SW19 next week. Seeing his rigour in this year’s Wimbledon, critics expect him to go very far in the championship. He had failed to get past the fourth round at the Slam in the last six years.
Highlights of Tsitsipas vs Kyrgios’ match
The beginning of the first match was even for both parties. However, when the match reached 5-5 Kyrgios protested at the umpire, Damien Dumusois, after a poor call in the 11th. Later at 40-30, Tsitsipas got his first serve in the game after Kyrgios’ ball received a call-out from a line judge. Kyrgios charged Dumusois to demand the replacement of the line judge.
Kyrgios continued with the match and got six more serves. When the player received another fault call, Tsitsipas used this chance to take over. Meanwhile, Kyrgios constantly showed his frustration throughout the first set.
During the second set, Kyrgios served until the eighth game before dumping the net with three drop shots. Tsitsipas took the opportunity to achieve a breakpoint. However, Kyrgios quickly saved the game with a second-serve ace. In the following game, the umpire awarded Kyrgios with a code violation as he apparently said something to a line judge.
The drama seemed to affect Tsitsipas at this point. After losing the second set, Tsitsipas sent a ball into the crowd and nearly hit a spectator. The Greek player received a code violation from the umpire but Kyrgios was dissatisfied with it. He demanded that Tsitsipas should be defaulted from the match. Kyrgios even threatened a walk-off before the start of the third set.
Despite the tension, Kyrgios still displayed superb play. During the fourth game, he started to take over the game from Tsitsipas. Kyrgios taunted his opponent with an underarm serve. It led to Tsitsipas making a wild swing, but fortunately, the ball hit the scoreboard instead of a spectator. Tsitsipas received a point penalty for his second violation. Kyrgios won the third set with an incredible volley.
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The fourth set saw Kyrgios struggling to save his game. There were three break points during the first game of the fourth. In the second game, Kyrgios regained his focus. He returned big shots from Tsitsipas that caused an error on Tsitsipas’ end. Tsitsipas drove a volley to get another breaker, but in the end, Kyrgios sealed the game with a powerful drop shot.
