Nick Kyrgios returned serve to Casper Ruud in an ongoing war of words

Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios hasn’t taken too kindly to a rival’s swipe and he returned serve in seriously ruthless fashion.

Don’t mess with Nick Kyrgios.

Nick Kyrgios has returned serve in emphatic fashion after tennis rival Casper Ruud clipped the Aussie star in the latest chapter of their ongoing war of words.

The pair clashed earlier in the year at the Rome Masters when Kyrgios was disqualified from the match, handing the victory to Ruud.

After the match a video of the Norwegian celebrating hit social media and Kyrgios shared it with several laughing emojis.

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On Wednesday Ruud was asked for his reaction when he saw the tweet from the mercurial Aussie and his choice of words hasn’t sat well with Kyrgios.

“I saw that he wrote a little about (my celebration),” Ruud said in an interview with Alex Theodoridis of Tennisportalen.

“Okay, he was disqualified but if we look at the head to head between me and Kyrgios, then it stands 1-0 to me.

“Does that mean I’ve won against him? It still stands 1-0 to me.

“He was completely crazy when I met him. It was nice to win. Whether I celebrated after the game or not? I do not care.

“I was happy and got 90 points and $50,000 in prize money so why wouldn’t I celebrate?

“It’s his problem that he’s an idiot on the court.”

Ruud in action.

On Thursday though, Kyrgios had his say and he put his rival on notice that if he has something to say, he should approach him directly.

“Hey @CasperRuud98 next time you have something to say, I would appreciate you say it to my face, I’m sure you wouldn’t run your mouth so much after that. Until then I will continue to rather watch paint dry then watch you play tennis, boring af,” Kyrgios tweeted.

“But again, I also understand why you have to keep my name in your mouth, because people dont even realise that you play tennis. Goodluck in Milan champ x.”

We can’t imagine either man will be exchanging pleasantries the next time their paths cross, but if they do in a tournament it should be must watch television.

The game in question where Kyrgios was disqualified.

Kyrgios is currently serving a six-month probationary period after being slapped by the ATP for ugly on court blow ups.

If he breaches the probation, he will be fined US$25,000 and suspended for 16 weeks.

Originally published as Nick Kyrgios returned serve to Casper Ruud in an ongoing war of words