Nick Kyrgios’ Wimbledon match against Stefanos Tsitsipas was delayed in farce scenes after the Greek star hit a ball in the crowd.
Nick Kyrgios refused to play for several minutes in his big Wimbledon third-round clash against Stefanos Tsitsipas after the Greek star hit a ball in the crowd and appeared to hit someone.
Kyrgios had just faced a set-all match in his eventual 6-7 6-4 6-3 7-6 victory when Tsitsipas sent a reverse volley to the crowd. A slow-motion replay appeared to show the ball bouncing off a wall and potentially connecting to the back of a man’s head sitting near the court.
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The Australian demanded that his opponent not participate in the match like Novak Djokovic at the 2020 US Open, and refused to play until officials resolved the matter.
“Is it a default or what? You just hit the ball in the fucking crowd. Are you stupid? So you can hit a ball in the crowd, hit someone and not stay default? Are you stupid?” He said to the chair referee.
“You’re a shame. You change the rules whenever you want …
“Give me all the supervisors. I won’t play until we get to the bottom.”
Kyrgios finally agreed to start the third set and won it quickly to take control of the match by 6-7 6-4 6-3.
But he was not alone in his stance in the face of the situation.
“The idea that this almost accident persists; and Novak’s much less forceful tank at the U.S. Open in 2020 caused an immediate breach … that rule needs serious reassessment, ”tweeted tennis writer Jon Wertheim.
Kyrgios advances to the fourth round where he will meet 20-year-old American Brandon Nakashima, who ranks 56th in the world.
From there, he expects a fourth potential against compatriot Alex De Minaur, and if he can overcome it, a semi against Rafa Nadal.
But this match will have a bit of a beating in the entertainment bet and had all the hallmarks of a classic from the start.
The first three games were in two, although neither player was able to break.
Kyrgios started running through his service games at warp speed, adding a little flavor to the crowd with a tweener service and another pump tweener service, followed by a pump on the tee.
But the wheels fell after the Australian was on the wrong side of an incorrect line call as he pushed to break Tsitsipas with the 5-5.
Kyrgios was furious and asked the chair referee to remove the offending judge.
“She has a fucking line to call,” Kyrgios said at the change of ends. “It’s annoying. Mistakes in every game. At all 5.”
He recovered to hold on to service and force a tiebreaker, but an early double foul left him behind and looked like he was staggering.
Tsitsipas took a 4-2 lead with a brilliant comeback ahead of Kyrgios, who tried to serve and volleyed, before the Greek star showed great composure as he left as Kyrgios prepared to serve as he continued to reprimand the line judge.
“He has every right to do so,” the ESPN commentator said.
Kyrgios lost the tiebreaker 7-2 bringing his record to the tiebreaks in 2022 to 5-8, and continued to find new things to complain about early in the second set after Tsitsipas challenged a line call during a point that the Australian ended up winning.
“Do you know what this is called? System abuse,” Kyrgios said, because he believed his opponent only challenged when he knew he couldn’t win the point.
Despite all the distractions, Kyrgios was relatively calm in service. He had a break point by 4-3 but as the first set could not capitalize.
He almost gifted the next game with a couple of errant pitching attempts before winning a chair referee’s warning after being denounced by another line judge for offensive language.
But in the blink of an eye the second set was his.
Tsitsipas showed nerves for the first time in the match to break the 5-4 and gave Kyrgios a point he had no real right to win.
You would have thought that the turn of events would have re-centered the Australian, but he returned to his seat with such an unpleasant mood as always after seeing Tsitsipas hit the ball in the crowd with apparent frustration.
After the interruption, Kyrgios quickly took control of the third set. He broke Tsitsipas in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead before winning his next service game to love.
He got a 4-1 lead with another shot that Tsitsipas slammed hard against the opposite wall to win a violation of the referee’s code and the fouls of a crowd that was now firmly behind the Australian.
It was now Tsitsipas having prolonged conversations with the chair referee, apparently about how Kyrgios had escaped largely without penalties for his controversial behavior.
“We’re here to play tennis!” He said.
But he could not push back Kyrgios, who remained calm even when Tsitsipas seemed to begin to intentionally pierce his body.
“Sometimes it was frustrating, and it’s a frustrating game,” Kyrgios said after the game.
“Whatever happens on the track stays on the track. I love him. He’s a brother.”
There was another moment of drama in the early fourth set when the Australian lost his foot and fell grabbing the hip area.
But he stood up and kept up the pressure on the fourth seed.
Tsitsipas had serious problems by 15-40 to 3-3, but struggled to get out of trouble to renew his hopes of throwing a comeback.
He put Kyrgios in the same hole 15-40 in the next game, but the Australian got out of trouble.
After a delay in closing the roof, Tsitsipas came back ahead with a 5-4, before getting a seven-point lead at 30-40 in the next game.
But Kyrgios pulled off a pair of brilliant setback winners to avoid danger again.
A direct take from Tsitsipas was followed by a serve play from Kyrgios that was not, but again survived to force another tiebreaker.
Kyrgios got the first mini-break to advance 5-4, but Tsitsipas recovered it immediately and switched sides again with a 6-6.
The tiebreaker became an epic one as both men dodged the match points with brilliant pressure tennis, but it was Kyrgios who triumphed with a sensational shot winner.
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