[imagesource: Clive Brunskill / Getty Images]

And here I was thinking that Nick Kyrgios’ first-round Wimbledon clash with Britain’s Paul Jubb was an ill-tempered affair.

Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas went toe to toe with the Ozzie in their third-round match, with tensions boiling over on the court, as well as the hours that followed Kyrgios winning 6-7 6-4 6-3 7-6.

The crowd on Centre Court saw Kyrgios being warned for swearing, Tsitsipas attempting to hit his rival with a smash and whacking a ball into the crowd, with some quality tennis mixed in.

The on-court handshake was cursory at best:

As soon as both players had a mic in front of them, the verbal barrage continued. Here’s CNN:

“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 told reporters after the match…

“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,” Kyrgios told reporters after progressing to the round of 16.

None of that was said in jest:

Kyrgios went on to say, “I’ve got many friends in the locker room, just to let you know. I’m actually one of the most liked. I’m set. He’s not liked. Let’s just put that there.”

Tsitsipas does have a fiery side to his game and has suffered the odd on-court meltdown in his time, but I find it hard to believe Kyrgios is “one of the most liked” players in the locker room.

The Project, an Australian TV show, put this clip together showing some of the match’s pricklier exchanges:

Both players have copped fines, reports Sky News:

Tsitsipas has been given the joint biggest fine of Wimbledon so far for unsportsmanlike conduct…

The player received two warnings for hitting the ball recklessly, once into the crowd and once very hard into the backboard off a Kyrgios underarm serve.

He has been ordered to pay $10,000.

Kyrgios was fined $4 000 for swearing. He was also fined $10 000 for his conduct in the match against Jubb.

In case you’re after some actual tennis action, here are the highlights from the match:

[sources:cnn&sky]