By Richard Pagliaro | Friday, July 1, 2022
Nick Kyrgios can be a hell raiser or magic maker on court.
Today, the explosive Aussie was both.
The mercurial Kyrgios rode his massive serve and major mind games to topple fourth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-7(2), 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(7) in a wild, crazy and contentious Clash on Court No. 1.
Both men were hit with code violations in what Tsitsipas summed up as “a circus.”
The match saw Kyrgios deploy the underarm tweener serve, some superb drop shots and near constant chatter that unnerved Tsitsipas. The Greek, who belted a ball into the stands and splattered another shot off the back wall, spent a few games trying to tag Tsitsipas and eventually drilled the Aussie in the chest.
It didn’t end at match point.
Tsitsipas called Kyrgios out as a bully in his post-match presser, while Kyrgios claimed Tsitsipas “is not liked.”
“It’s constant bullying, that’s what he does,” Tsitsipas said.
Kyrgios laughed off the bullying charge saying “I did nothing towards Stefanos today that was disrespectful.”
“I don’t know what to say. I’m not sure how I bullied him,” Kyrgios told the media. He was the one hitting balls at me, he was the one that hit a spectator, he was the one that smacked it out of the stadium. I didn’t do anything.
“I was actually like — apart from me just going back and forth to the umpire for a bit, I did nothing towards Stefanos today that was disrespectful, I don’t think. I was not drilling him with balls.A fired-up Kyrgios threw his entire arsenal—and nearly ever gamesmanship card in the deck—to beat the Greek for second time on grass in the last three weeks.
Afterward, Kyrgios delivered a message for his critics and the media:I fill stadiums and bring buzz to the sport.
“Everywhere I go it’s full stadiums,” Kyrgios said in his on-court intervew. “The media love to write that I’m bad for the sport, but clearly not.”
The victory comes less than three weeks after the explosive Kyrgios charged through 12 of the final 13 points stopping the second-seeded Tsitsipas 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 on the grass of Halle.
Krygios, the tennis version of Mayhem from the All State commercials, asserts tennis needs edgy personalities like his to shatter stodgy stereotypes and grow the game.
Tsitsipas counters Kyrgios, who spit in the direction of a taunting fan after his opening-round win over Paul Jubb, is a bully prone to degrading chair umpires…
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