Stefanos Tsitsipas calls out ‘worst behaviour’ in fiery Nick Kyrgios feud
Stefanos Tsitsipas has reflected on his dramatic meeting with Nick Kyrgios at Wimbledon which saw both men receive code violations.
Stefanos Tsitsipas has reflected on his enthralling third-round match against Nick Kyrgios at Wimbledon two years ago, which saw both men hit with code violations before the Australian prevailed in four sets and went on to reach the final.
Their war of words continued in their post-match press conferences when Tsitsipas branded his opponent a “bully” and Kyrgios fired back by saying the world No. 11 wasn’t liked.
Speaking exclusively to Express Sport, Tsitsipas has now explained why he has no regrets over the match and shared where he stands with Kyrgios now, despite calling out the “worst behaviour” on the other side of the court.
Look, for me that year was an important one. I felt like my tennis was great during that grass court swing,” Tsitsipas told Express Sport days before Wimbledon. “If you check my results I might not have delivered in Halle two weeks before but I won my first grass court tournament in Mallorca and I was feeling great with my game.
“I had a great win in the second round against Jordan Thompson, I feel like he’s one of the good guys to beat on grass. And then I entered that match with Kyrgios with a lot of expectations that I can really do damage today and I can perhaps even win that match.”
But it wasn’t to be for Tsitsipas, who was the fourth seed at Wimbledon in 2022. He took the first set in a tiebreak but things got fiery when he swatted a ball into the crowd after losing the second and Kyrgios called for him to be defaulted.
Recalling what went on in the hot-tempered match, the current world No. 11 continued: “And those things occurred during the match, they threw me off a little bit. It was, let’s say, the best moment of my career with the worst sort of behaviour on the other side which made me feel terrible.
“I was also feeling a little bit sick during those three days that I was at Wimbledon, I started feeling not that great so that contributed to the behaviour and the reaction that I showed on the court, I was really feeling terrible.”
Two years later, there isn’t anything Tsitsipas would have done differently and he is happy to take the dramatic contest as a learning experience. “Looking back into it, I don’t regret anything,” he stated.
