Once again, Nick Kyrgios is being talked about not only for serves, forehands and volleys. The Australian reached the quarter-finals – where he will face Chile’s Cristian Garin on Court 1 – but the focus was more on self-congratulatory moans and sewing errors than the world number 40’s undoubted skills.
His four-set victory over Stephanos Tsitsipas in the third round led to allegations that Kyrgios bullied the world No. 5. Asked about the Greek player’s allegations, the Australian said he was “not sure” how he bullied his opponent.
“He was the one who hit me with balls, he was the one who hit a spectator, he was the one who threw him out of the stadium,” he said. “I have not done anything. Other than just going back and forth with the referee for a bit, I didn’t do anything disrespectful to Stephanos.”
Cue the next match and another controversy, this time revolving around his choice of clothing.
Kyrgios, who secured his quarter-final spot with a five-set win against Brandon Nakashima, took to the court in a pair of mostly red Nike Air Jordan sneakers before putting them back on after the match and conducting his interview wearing a red cap (the rules state that players must to be dressed in “almost all white” from the moment they step onto the court).
It is understood that Kyrgios, who has already been fined at this tournament (he was fined £8,260 after admitting to spitting in the direction of a spectator who had taunted him during his first-round tie against Paul Jubb, and fined £3,300 for swearing during the match against Tsitsipas), he was verbally reminded about the dress code.
When asked about not following the dress code, the Australian simply replied: “I do what I want”.
Then yesterday news broke that Kyrgios was facing court at home after an ex-girlfriend accused him of assaulting her. The All England Club cleared him to play today but said it was in contact with his team after it became clear he was due to appear before Australian magistrates next month.
After the case became public on Tuesday, Kyrgios took to the practice courts as planned for his match against Garin, refusing to answer questions about the case but, as he was surrounded by reporters, instead told his coach: “I feel like I’m in The Last Dance,” a reference to the Netflix documentary about the Chicago Bulls.
As it happens, Kyrgios currently has his own camera crew following him at Wimbledon ahead of a documentary on the same streaming platform.
Stay tuned here for all the action in what is sure to be a fascinating match as the Australian hopes to reach his first Grand Slam semi-final.
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