Kyrgios takes action against abusive spectator
This is not what one thinks of when pondering the supposedly genteel roots of tennis, and the purportedly proper atmosphere at dates-to-the1800s Wimbledon, a country club sport being contested at a place officially called the All England Lawn Tennis Club: a player, Nick Kyrgios, capping a first-round victory yesterday by spitting in the direction of a spectator he said was hassling him.
“I’ve been dealing with hate and negativity for a long time, so I don’t feel like I owed that person anything. Like, he literally came to the match to literally just not even support anyone, really. It was more just to stir up and disrespect. That’s fine,” Kyrgios said after beating Britain’s Paul
Jubb 3-6, 6-1, 7-5, 6-7 (3), 7-5.
“But if I give it back to you, then that’s just how it is.”
During the match, which filled the stands at 1980-seat Court No. 3 — and attracted lengthy lines of folks hoping to eventually be let in, likely owing to the popularity of the anything-canhappen Kyrgios, a 27-year-old from Australia, and the involvement of a local player — Kyrgios asked, without success, to have the fan removed for cursing and sending other verbal abuse his way.
This comes less than three weeks after organisers at a tournament in Stuttgart, Germany, investigated when Kyrgios said he heard racist insults from the crowd during a match, and raises questions about when unruly behaviour is too unruly or whether more should, or even can, be done to shield athletes from inappropriate comments that come from
the stands. “I’ve grown up in Australia, so I definitely know what racism is. I feel like it’s a battle, constant battle, coming from that place and dealing with it . . . . I don’t think it’s got anything to do with that.
“I just think spectators, in general, think there’s just no line there anymore.
“They can just say something and they film it and then they laugh about it,” Kyrgios said.
“It’s like that could actually hurt someone’s feelings. Do you know what I mean?”
Tennis players long have dealt with online abuse, particularly from gamblers angry about a particular match’s outcome.
Negative interaction among athletes and the people paying to watch them is gaining more attention in real life, too.