Stefanos Tsitsipas: Nick Kyrgios is a bully

World No.5 Tsitsipas says controversial Aussie has an evil side that is bad for people around him after going down in a heated battle to Kyrgios in Round 3

Stefanos Tsitsipas branded Nick Kyrgios “a bully” with an “evil side” after losing a stormy Wimbledon clash on Saturday. “It’s constant bullying, that’s what he does,” the Greek fourth seed said in his post-match press conference after their third-round match.

‘He has some good traits’

“He bullies the opponents. He was probably a bully at school himself. I don’t like bullies. 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.” 

The mercurial Australian prevailed 6-7 (2/7), 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (9/7) in the match, during which both players were handed code violations by the umpire. Kyrgios even demanded the Tsitsipas be defaulted for hitting the ball into the crowd. Tsitsipas admitted he deliberately hit the ball at Kyrgios at one stage in an effort to quieten the Australian.

Stefanos Tsitsipas

“I was aiming for the body of my opponent but I missed by a lot,” he said. “This needs to stop. It’s not okay. Someone needs to sit down with him and talk. I’m not used to play this way. But I cannot just sit there, act like a robot and act like someone that is completely cold and ignorant. It felt like a bit of a circus. You get tired of the constant talking, the constant complaining,” he added.

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Kyrgios said he understood why Tsitsipas would be upset after losing two times in recent weeks, including in Halle. “Maybe he should figure out how to beat me a couple more times first and then get to that,” he said. Kyrgios claimed he had been the victim of bullying on the court.

Kyrgios lashes out

“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. I didn’t do anything. I did nothing towards Stefanos today that was disrespectful. He’s soft to come in here and say I bullied him. We’re not cut from the same cloth,” he added.

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