Stefanos Tsitsipas stated Nick Kyrgios has an “evil side” after a stormy clash at Wimbledon on Saturday wherein the victorious Australian referred to as for his Greek opponent to be kicked out of the match.
The bad-tempered match overshadowed the remainder of the motion on day six, which included the tip of Iga Swiatek’s 37-match profitable streak and a routine victory for Rafael Nadal.
The mercurial Kyrgios prevailed 6-7 (2/7), 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (9/7) in an incident-packed third-round match on Court One.
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The contest descended into mayhem when a annoyed Tsitsipas hit the ball into the gang after shedding the second set.
Kyrgios advised the umpire that Tsitsipas ought to be kicked out of Wimbledon, recalling the incident on the US Open in 2020 when Novak Djokovic was defaulted from the match after hitting a line choose with a ball.
“You can’t hit a ball into the crowd and hit someone and not get defaulted,” stated the 27-year-old, who acquired an audible obscenity warning in the course of the match.
He saved up his verbal jousting with the umpire, clearly unsettling Tsitsipas, who was warned over the incident and later handed some extent penalty for hitting the ball in frustration in direction of the again of the courtroom.
The unhealthy feeling bubbled up once more in post-match press conferences, with fourth seed Tsitsipas saying it felt like a “circus”.
“He bullies the opponents,” stated the Greek, who admitted making an attempt to hit the ball at Kyrgios.
“He was most likely a bully at college 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.”
Tsitsipas stated he wished gamers may “come together and put a rule in place” to curb Kyrgios’s behaviour.
“There is no other player that does this,” he stated. “There is no other player that is so upset and frustrated all the time with something. It triggers it so easy and so fast.”
But Kyrgios laughed off Tsitsipas’s accusations, describing his opponent as “soft”.
“We’re not cut from the same cloth,” he stated. “I go up against guys who are true competitors.”
He added: “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’s not liked. Let’s just put that there.”
Swiatek streak ends
Earlier, French veteran Alize Cornet took benefit of an error-strewn efficiency from Polish ladies’s world primary Swiatek to triumph 6-4, 6-2.
Swiatek by no means regarded snug within the third-round tie, shedding her serve 5 occasions and making 33 unforced errors.
The 21-year-old had not misplaced a match since her defeat to Jelena Ostapenko in February in Dubai, profitable her previous six tournaments, together with the French Open.
“I know I didn’t play good tennis,” stated the highest seed, who misplaced the final six video games of the match. “I used to be fairly confused about my techniques.
“As a solid player, she used that pretty well. For sure, it wasn’t a good performance from me.”
Second seed Nadal, chasing a uncommon calendar Grand Slam, beat Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 to arrange a last-16 match in opposition to Dutch twenty first seed Botic van de Zandschulp.
Australian nineteenth seed Alex De Minaur beat British wild card Liam Broady in straight units and can play Chile’s Cristian Garin within the final 16.
Harmony Tan, who knocked Serena Williams out within the first spherical, demolished British wild card Katie Boulter 6-1, 6-1 in simply 51 minutes to achieve the fourth spherical.
Tan will subsequent play twentieth seed Amanda Anisimova, who got here from behind to beat French Open finalist Coco Gauff 6-7 (4/7), 6-2, 6-1 in an all-American tie.
Simona Halep, the champion in 2019, eased by to the final 16 with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Magdalena Frech.
The Romanian will subsequent play fourth seed Paula Badosa, who defeated two-time champion Petra Kvitova 6-4, 7-6 (7/4).