Picture Credit: Twitter
The Round three match between Australia’s Nick Kyrgios and Stefanos Tsitsipas from Greece turned out to be an instant classic. The rollercoaster of a match ended 6-7, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6, in Kyrgios’ favour who will now advance to the fourth round to face American Brandon Nakashima.
After the match, Kyrgios praised his opponent and called him a ‘hell of a player’. He said, “Honestly it was a hell of an atmosphere, an amazing match. I honestly felt like the favourite coming in - I played him a couple of weeks ago. But I knew that it was going to be a tough match. He’s a hell of a player”.
He was probably a bully at school himself: Tsitsipas
But Tsitsipas didn't share a similar sentiment as he called Nick Kyrgios a bully. He said, “Yeah, it’s constant bullying, that’s what he does. He bullies opponents. He was probably a bully at school himself. I don’t like bullies,” Tsitsipas said.
“I don’t like people that put other people down. He has some good traits in his character, as well. But he also has a very evil side to him, which if it’s exposed, it can really do a lot of harm and bad to the people around him.”
I did nothing towards Stefanos today that was disrespectful: Kyrgios
Reacting to these comments, Kyrgios expressed confusion about him being a bully. He said, “I don’t know what to say. I’m not sure how I bullied him. He was the one hitting balls at me, he was the one that hit a spectator, he was the one that smacked it out of the stadium,” said Kyrgios.
“I did nothing towards Stefanos today that was disrespectful. I was not drilling him with balls. 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,” he added.
Nick Kyrgios will next face USA's B Nakashima on July 4 in the Round of 16.