Aussie bad boy Nick Kyrgios mixed a masterclass of tennis with a supershow of s***housery in a feisty victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas. Both players were handed warnings — Kyrgios for a comment to a line judge and Tsitsipas for smashing a ball into the crowd.
Kyrgios called for him to be defaulted for that one and promised fireworks in his press conference to umpire Damien Dumusois, whom he accused of not knowing the rules.
The Greek No.4 seed was then docked a point for a code violation after belting another ball dangerously towards the stands.
Challenges were made that should never have been allowed by either side as the two players sought to buy time or distract the other.
There was needle between the their two camps and Tsitsipas smashed a ball at Kyrgios after an underarm serve which wasn’t his first of the game.
It was gripping stuff, with Kyrgios wittering away to himself for much of the game and biting back at the crowd from time to time, too.
He even shouted ‘good shot’ to Tsitsipas at one point — as the Greek sent one out.
There were 124mph second serves from Kyrgios, who time and again rushed his serve and got frustrated when his opponent wasn’t ready, purposefully or not.
Oh, and there was some magical tennis, too, in one of the most all-round entertaining games Wimbledon has seen for some time.
Not least the wonderful drop shots Kyrgios repeatedly played to win big points.
He ultimately took the game 6-7, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 to a cacophony of noise made up of boos and cheers in equal measure.
He said: “Honestly, it was a hell of an atmosphere, an amazing match.
“I knew it would be tough, match, he’s a hell of a payer, but I had my own tactics out there.
“I’m just super happy to be through, he was getting frustrated at times, it’s a frustrating game.
“Whatever happens on the court, I love him. I’m close with his brother as well so I hope that’s it.
“Everywhere I go, I seem to be having full stadiums. The media says I’m bad for the sport but clearly not.
“My self-belief is always high, I’m going to rest, recover and do everything right and hopefully I can keep going on.”
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