Stefanos Tsitsipas Takes A Swing At Nick Kyrgios After Fiery On-Court Exchange

A war of words has erupted in a brutal postscript between Nick Kyrgios and Stefanos Tsitsipas after the Greek player accused the Australian of being a bully with an "evil side”.

The explosive battle occurred during the third-round Wimbledon clash on Saturday (local time). 

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Kyrgios demanded Tsitsipas be defaulted after recklessly hitting a ball into the stands missing a female spectator by centimetres, while Kyrgios got pulled up for keeping up a running dialogue with the chair umpire during the match and was warned for his obscene language.

After his 6-7 (6-2), 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) defeat on Court One, Tsitsipas complained that “it’s constant bullying, that’s what he does.”

“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,” he said.

“That’s his way of manipulating the opponent and making you feel distracted, in a way. There is no other player that does this. There is no other player that is so upset and frustrated all the time with something," he said.

Tsitsipas apologised for losing control and trying to hit Kyrgios with a smash in the third set, but said he was frustrated that the Aussie hot-heads behaviour on court was not called into line.

“I was aiming for the body of my opponent, but I missed by a lot, by a lot,” he said. “I’m not used to play this way. But I cannot just sit there, act like a robot and act like someone that is completely cold and ignorant."

After the match, Kyrgios teased that Tsitsipas would never confront him directly.

"He's that soft. To come in here and say I bullied him, that's just soft," Kyrgios said.

"If he's affected by that today, then that's what's holding him back. Because someone can just do that and that's going to throw him off his game like that. I just think it's soft.

"I'm good in the locker room. I've got many friends, just to let you know. I'm actually one of the most liked. I'm set," he boasted. "He's not liked. Let's just put that there."

Both players received code violations for unsportsmanlike conduct during the match.

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