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Stefanos Tsitsipas recently faced the wrath of tennis fans after he reignited his feud with Nick Kyrgios.
The two players have their own share of history in creating controversies both on and off the court. The duo locked horns with each other in the third round of the 2022 Wimbledon Championships. Up against the fourth seed, Kyrgios rallied from a set down to beat the Greek, 6-7(2), 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(7).
The Kyrgios-Tsitsipas tussle was one of its kind, as it had everything in it to be deemed a highly controversial match. During the match, the Australian constantly complained to the chair umpire and was even fined for his comments. Soon after, frustrated over losing a set, Tsitsipas whacked a ball into the crowd, which luckily missed a spectator by a whisker.
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Nick Kyrgios asked for his opponent to be defaulted but in vain. Later in the game, the 2023 Australian Open finalist hit a smash that almost hit Kyrgios.
In the Netflix series 'Break Point', the Greek was seen venting out his annoyance by harshly criticizing his opponent's behavior.
“He’s brought NBA basketball attitude to tennis. I’d describe it as an uneducated approach to playing tennis. Tennis is a gentleman's sport, it's all about respect. We’re not playing basketball. He kept putting his towel in my box," Tsitsipas said.
Quickly after his statement, fans started calling him out for his hypocrisy.
A fan on Twitter alleged that Tsitsipas' comments had a hint of racism.
"It’s some racial undertones to this," a fan tweeted.
Another fan recalled Tsitsipas hitting a ball into the stands and said that he was being a hypocrite as his own actions were questionable.
"Didn’t Tsitsipas hit a ball into his own box? Didn’t Tsitsipas keep slamming the ball at his own opponents? Doesn’t sound gentlemanly either. He’s a hypocrite," the tweet read.
Fans continued to call out the two-time Grand Slam finalist for his consistent on and off-the-court antics.
"It’s funny that Tsitsipas is talking about an uneducated approach and a gentleman’s sport when he frequently engages in plagiarism and demonstrates ungentlemanly behavior on court," a user wrote.
Below are a few more reactions:
Nick Kyrgios opens up about mental health issues during Wimbledon 2019
Nick Kyrgios, the "bad boy" of tennis, recently opened up about his struggle with depression and how he even contemplated suicide during the 2019 Wimbledon Championships.
The Australian lost to Rafael Nadal in the second round of the Grand Slam. Kyrgios said in the 'Break Point' series that he thought of ending his life and that the moment was a wake-up call for him.
"I was genuinely contemplating if I wanted to commit suicide," he said. "I lost at Wimbledon. I woke up, and my dad was sitting on the bed, full-blown crying. That was the big wake-up call for me. I was like, 'OK, I can't keep doing this," Nick Kyrgios added.
