[imagesource: Toby Melville / Reuters]

Is it even a Nick Kyrgios match if there aren’t some theatrics and a showdown or two with officials and the crowd?

His Ben Stiller quip at the Indian Wells tournament in Indian Wells, California was actually rather amusing, but he’s in the news more these days for his on-court meltdowns than for his on-court victories.

In Miami last month, he repeatedly abused chair umpire Carlos Bernardes and then continued to do so on social media after his loss to Jannik Sinner.

At least he was victorious yesterday in his first-round Wimbledon clash with Britain’s Paul Jubb, although that’s not what is grabbing headlines.

This via The Telegraph:

Nick Kyrgios had admitted that he deliberately spat towards a Wimbledon fan who was “disrespecting me” and railed against the tennis authorities for doing “nothing” about relentless “racism”.

The Australian said that he was subjected to abuse rather than racism in beating Britain’s Paul Jubb on Court No.2 but, following a furious on-court display, in which he called a line judge “a snitch”, doubled down on his criticism both of officials and fans.

Kyrgios added that his brother, who suffers from alopecia, is often the butt of jokes on social media.

You’d be well advised to keep Kyrgios’ brother’s name out your mouth.

Kyrgios said he wouldn’t spit in the direction of somebody who was supporting him. Given that he was facing a British opponent at Wimbledon, support was in short supply.

Kyrgios spits in the direction of the fans who were giving him some gip #wimbledon22 pic.twitter.com/bEDwjzXwcB

— Ric Riscardo (@Riscardo) June 28, 2022

The second part of this video shows another moment where the Ozzie lost his cool and belted a ball

Nick Kyrgios doing Nick Kyrgios things at Wimbledon: spits in the direction of fans heckling him all match, slams a ball into the crowd triggering a warning, and the list goes on. #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/3BmZYyq2n2

— Off The Deck Sports (@OffTheDeck_) June 28, 2022

Kyrgios, who repeatedly asked umpire Marija Cicak to remove disruptive fans, even had a run-in of sorts with his opponent:

“You can’t f—ing decide to talk to me in the middle of the point when I’m about to do a backhand, it can’t be happening bro,” he said.

Nobody was safe from his wrath. The line judge he called a “snitch” was accused of acting “selfishly” and Kyrgios also said she “had no fans”.

After his hard-fought five-set win, he called out those who gave him a hard time:

Nick Kyrgios dedicated his win to “a couple of people in the crowd” who were giving him grief… 😬

“You know who you are” 👀#BBCTennis #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/GCif6baNTt

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) June 28, 2022

There’s a chance the Ozzie could face disciplinary measures:

The umpire must notify the tournament referee’s office of on-court concerns. The press conference will also be reviewed in consultation with the Grand Slam supervisor before it is decided whether to take action.

Whatever happens next, rest assured that Kyrgios will not change.

[source:telegraph]