Nick Kyrgios Vs Stefanos Tsitsipas Tense Match: The Bones Of Contention

Nick Kyrgios beat Stefanos Tsitsipas in Saturday’s Wimbledon 2022 third-round match. But what has set tongues wagging is the canopy of tension that hung on the air during and after the match.

Kyrgios beat forth-seeded Tsisipas 6-7 (2), 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (7) to reach the fourth round at the All England Club. But the sporting commentary of the match has been overshadowed by three code violations that were issued in it. One of the violations was issued on Kyrgios for spewing an expletive. Two fell on Tsitsipas for ball abuse, leading to a point penalty.

The bitter feelings continued even after the match, when Tsitsipas accused Kyrgios of having “an evil side” and speculated that Kyrgios must have been “a bully at school”. There’s currently no confirmation that this allegation has any truth in it whatsoever.

Kyrgios responded: “To come in here and say I bullied him, that’s just soft. We’re not cut from the same cloth. I go up against guys who are true competitors. “

The main theatre of war was toward the end of the second set. What was the spark that ignited the flame? Tsitsipas hit a ball into the corner stands, narrowly missing a spectator!

Kyrgios immediately saw red, arguing with the umpire, and demanding that Tsitsipas should be defaulted. He didn’t stop there. He dropped the remark that ‘if he had been the one who did such, he would have been thrown out’. Not done making his point, he demanded to see a supervisor, but was not satisfied when chair umpire Damien Dumusois’ issued a warning. Kyrgios then demanded to see ‘more supervisors’. All this drama was during the match, or should I say, stalling the match.

Said Kyrgios to umpire Dumusois, “What are you talking about, 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.”

Reflecting how he hit the ball dangerously toward spectators, Tsitsipas defended himself, stating that he had apologized, and adding that the ball didn’t hit anyone. He then blamed his behavior on unusual forces. He stated;

“Look, I have to say it was really bad from my side,” he said. “I have never done that before, throwing the ball outside the court in that way. I did apologize to the people. I don’t know what went through my head at that time.

“I think, with all the circus show going on the other side of the net, it started to become very tiring in a way. That happened. I didn’t hit any people. It did hit the wall, thank God. For sure I’m never doing that again. It’s my responsibility, for sure. But there was also something that created that behavior that I’m not used to see myself.”

Kyrgios’ first clash with the chair umpire was in the first set, when he was dissatisfied about a reversed call by a line judge and wanted that official removed. His wish didn’t become reality.

ESPN reports that there was more drama caused by underarm serves hit by Kyrgios that include one between his legs; and three shots that may have been purposely smacked right at him by Tsitsipas.

And on and on went the drama. If Winston Churchill were to summarize the match, he’d say something like; ‘Never before has one match generated so much acrimony…’

Read another report of it by ESPN