San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
TSITSIPAS CALLS OUT FOE
Nick Kyrgios cursed at the Wimbledon chair umpire and asked, “Are you dumb?” He demanded to see a Grand Slam supervisor after questioning why his opponent, Stefanos Tsitsipas, didn’t forfeit their ever-contentious, never-boring match for angrily hitting a ball into the stands after dropping the second set.
Unsatisfied with the response, Kyrgios asked, “What are you talking about, bro?” Then came this: “Bro, bring out more supervisors. I’m not done. Bring ’em all out. I don’t care. I’m not playing until we get to the bottom of this.”
Narrator: He did continue to play Saturday. And the unpredictable, unseeded Kyrgios won 6-7 (2), 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (7) to reach the fourth round at the All England Club for the first time since 2016 — then was criticized by the No. 4seeded Tsitsipas for having “a very evil side.”
“It’s constant bullying. That’s what he does. He bullies the opponents,” said Tsitsipas, the 2021 French Open runner-up, who also lost to Kyrgios on grass at a tournament in Halle, Germany, last month. “He was probably a bully at school himself. I don’t like bullies.”
There was more, so much more, from underhand serves hit by the Kyrgios — including one between his legs — to the three shots purposely smacked right at him by Tsitsipas. A total of three code violations were called by chair umpire Damien Dumusois, one on Kyrgios for an audible obscenity, and two on Tsitsipas for ball abuse, earning a point penalty.
Told of Tsitsipas’ “bully” comment, Kyrgios laughed and shook his head.
“He was the one hitting balls at me. He was the one who hit a spectator. I didn’t do anything. Apart from me going back and forth with the umpire, I did nothing toward Stefanos today that was disrespectful, I don’t think,” Kyrgios said at his news conference, wearing a T-shirt with former NBA player Dennis Rodman’s name on it.
“If he’s affected by that today, then that’s what’s holding him back,” Kyrgios said about Tsitsipas. “Because someone can just do that, and that’s going to throw him off his game like that? I just think it’s soft.”
There even was some terrific tennis along the way, with the players combining for 118 winners. It all took 3 hours, 17 minutes, with nary a dull moment, and finished so late that the retractable roof at No. 1 Court was shut and the artificial lights turned on midway through the fourth set.
Tsitsipas held a pair of set points to force a fifth, but Kyrgios saved both, the latter with a halfvolley winner after serving-andvolleying on a second serve.
Kyrgios, a 27-year-old from Australia, converted his second match point with a drop shot, then roared. That sort of skill has always been evident from Kyrgios, who twice has been a Grand Slam quarterfinalist.
At one point, Kyrgios told Dumusois: “You don’t know how to play, so how about you don’t tell me how to play? Bro, the people want to see me, not you.”
They will get another chance to see Kyrgios on Monday, when he faces San Diego’s Brandon Nakashima for a spot in the quarterfinals. Nakashima is one of four American men in the fourth round, the most at Wimbledon since 1999.
The other men’s matches Monday will be 22-time major champion Rafael Nadal against No. 21 Botic van de Zandschulp, No. 11 Taylor Fritz, a San Diego native, against qualifier Jason Kubler, and No. 19 Alex de Minaur against Cristian Garin.
Fritz beat Alex Molcan, 6-4, 6-1, 7-6 (3), on No. 3 Court. Kubler beat American qualifier Jack Sock 6-2, 4-6, 5-7, 7-6 (4), 6-3 in their thirdround match.
The 24-year-old Fritz hit 20 aces and only one double-fault.