‘Ladies, let’s go’: Nick Kyrgios ‘crossed the line’ with post-match remark

Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis have let their feelings pour out after they completed a fairy tale run to win the Aussie Open men’s doubles.

Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis celebrate their win. Picture: Mark Stewart

Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis are grand slam champions. Let that sink in.

The pair are now the first all-Aussie team to win the men’s doubles at the Aussie Open since 1997 after they proved too good for fellow Aussies Max Purcell and Matt Ebden.

The Special Ks brought the house down on Rod Laver Arena with a 7-5 6-4 win.

Their moment of triumph comes more than eight years after they won the Wimbledon juniors doubles together.

MELBOURNE, JANUARY 29, 2021: Australian Open Tennis 2022. Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis celebrate their win against Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell during the mens doubles final on Rod Laver Arena. Picture: Mark Stewart

Now they are men. And they are grand slam champions — something nobody can take away or forget in the never-ending debate surrounding their behaviour on and off the court.

The pair were also full of class in their post-match acceptance speeches where they let their feelings pour out.

After winning match point the pair showed how real their bromance is when Kokkinakis was seen planting a kiss on his partner’s cheek.

😘@TKokkinakis 💙 @NickKyrgios#AO2022 • #AusOpenpic.twitter.com/zx4ThzHFiZ

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 29, 2022

“Nick, I love you, brother,” Kokkinakis said.

“Man, I can honestly say we did not expect to even come close to this but with the help of you guys all week it has been unbelievable.”

Kyrgios also singled his girlfriend Costeen Hatzi in his speech.

“This week has been a dream come true for me. I wouldn’t want to do it with anyone else,” he said of Kokkinakis.

"Nick, I love you brother."

The bromance is well and truly alive with these two 💙🏆@TKokkinakis • @NickKyrgios • #AO2022 • #AusOpenpic.twitter.com/Et0SJZjzPM

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 29, 2022

“I’m just super happy. I don’t even know how we are doing this or what is going on right now to be brutally honest.

“My team. I wouldn’t be here without you guys. My beautiful girlfriend, she looked after me as well.”

Kyrgios then quipped: “I know this big boy is going to be out tonight so ladies, let’s go!”

After a chorus of laughter around Rod Laver Arena, Kyrgios muttered: “I’ve got to stop now, I’ve crossed the line.”

The pair had sparked frenzied scenes never witnessed before at Melbourne Park on their way to the final, but it was supposed to be a very different crowd against their fellow Australians.

Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis celebrate their win. Picture: Mark Stewart.

It didn’t exactly turn out that way with the behaviour of fans again becoming a talking point.

Purcell complained to the umpire late in the second set about fans heckling him in the middle of his service motion. And it triggered some backlash from the crowd.

In the end, all the controversial fan behaviour was overshadowed by the sheer joy Kokkinakis and Kyrgios showed when they wrapped up their maiden grand slam doubles title.

Ebden and Purcell paid compliments to the Special Ks after the match, saying their opponents were “simply too good”.

And it was fitting.

Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios celebrate their win.

Kyrgios and Kokkinakis seized their moments and won the big points at the end of both sets to wrap up their title in just under 95 minutes.

“This is an unbelievable moment,” Aussie great Sam Groth said in commentary.

In the post-match press conference Kokkinakis and Kyrgios, who have known each other since they were about eight years old, said the double title was their favourite accomplishment.

Kyrgios helps kick unruly fan out of stadium

Nick Kyrgios helped security kick a fan out of Rod Laver Arena during a tense moment when Matt Ebden and Max Purcell were serving to stay in the match.

🤯 LATE DRAMA! 🤯

Unruly fan BOOTED from Arena after players get fed up! 🙅‍♂️#AusOpen - live on Channel 9 and 9Now. Ad-Free Live & On Demand on Stan Sport pic.twitter.com/IAlgskY050

— Wide World of Sports (@wwos) January 29, 2022

Ebden complained to the umpire for his serves to be counted as lets when interrupted by fans.

That brought Kokkinakis and Kyrgios to the net to be part of the conversation.

When the offender yelled out again, Kyrgios pointed the fan out to security and pretty soon the entire stadium was calling for the fan to be given the boot.

Kyrgios has demanded the culprit be removed.

And he has been escorted out by security.

Yes, that's Nick Kyrgios demanding etiquette be observed. pic.twitter.com/jkOJr91o1R

— The Tennis Podcast (@TennisPodcast) January 29, 2022

You have to be really bad if even Nick Kyrgios wants you gone. #AusOpen

— Georgie Parker (@georgieparker) January 29, 2022

Special Ks take first set, Ebden gives it to Kyrgios

Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios are one set away from becoming Australian Open men’s doubles champions after capturing the opening set against Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell.

In a tight first set, the critical moment came with Ebden’s serve broken at 5-5.

In the blink of an eye, Kyrgios and Kokkinakis wrapped up the first set 7-5 after 50 minutes.

The tense encounter began to get heated in the second set when Ebden executed a perfect tweener before playing it up for the crowd.

After winning the point, Ebden motioned for the crowd to lift its applause — a move straight out of Kyrgios’ playbook.

It came after Kokkinakis appeared to give Ebden a gobful earlier in the first set when the veteran left a ball at the net that landed just inside the court.

Kyrgios and girlfriend share adorable final messages

Nick Kyrgios has posted photos and videos of him hopping into a helicopter with girlfriend Costeen Hatzi the day before the men’s doubles final.

Photos posted to Hatzi’s Instagram stories showed the loved-up pair flew to a ritzy retreat for a meal in a unique preparation for the blockbuster doubles final.

The pair also exchanged some cute messages on Instagram just hours before the 26-year-old walks onto court.

Hatzi posted a photo of her holding hands with Kyrgios while driving in a car together.

She captioned the photo: Doubles grand final!!! Proud is an understatement. I can’t wait to watch you play & entertain the whole world. Let’s go boys”.

Kyrgios responded by reposting the image on his Instagram stories with a caption: “My babe, best support”.

Nick Kyrgios and Costeen Hatzi on a helicopter. Photo: Instagram, @K! ngKyrg1os, @costeenhatzi, Getty.

Max Purcell does Nick Kyrgios dirty before Open final

Instagram activity allegedly from the account of Aussie tennis star Max Purcell has taken aim at the “disrespectful” behaviour of Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis. Purcell and countryman Matthew Ebden face the “Special Ks” in Saturday night’s Australian Open men’s doubles final after Ash Barty’s decider against Danielle Collins in the women’s singles draw.

The Special Ks have drawn huge crowds with electric atmospheres — though some think fans have crossed the line with their rowdy conduct at times. Vanquished Kiwi star Michael Venus called Kyrgios an “absolute knob” after losing in the quarter-finals while the Canberra product revealed last weekend after beating top seeds Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic in the second round, a member of the Croatians’ entourage tried to fight him.

Kyrgios and Kokkinakis, who were granted a wildcard entry into the doubles draw at Melbourne Park, continued their giant-killing run on Thursday by defeating third seeds Horacio Zeballos and Marcel Granollers in straight sets in the semis.

By contrast, Ebden and Purcell have gone about their business in much more understated fashion, playing in front of far less fans but still upsetting more fancied opponents en route to the final.

The contrast to MCA is, well, stark. Fewer than 100 people watching another two Aussies, Matt Ebden and Max Purcell, taking on Joe Salisbury and Rajeev Ram #AusOpenpic.twitter.com/SgraD8t06h

— Eleanor Crooks (@EleanorcrooksPA) January 27, 2022

Comments made on Instagram from Purcell’s verified account took aim at the Special Ks’ behaviour at the year’s first grand slam. The comments were made on a video post from the official Australian Open social media account, featuring Kyrgios and Kokkinakis in a press conference talking about the importance of entertaining fans and helping grow the sport by putting on a show.

One Instagram user criticised Kyrgios in the comments section, taking a dig at “dirty” players and saying he should have been disqualified for accidentally hitting a young boy in the crowd with a ball.

In response, remarks from Purcell’s account read: “Couldn’t agree more.

“All I’m saying is the way those boys are acting is extremely disrespectful to their opponents.

“How am I not respecting the tournament? I’m playing with good sportsmanship and having a good time. Not having the crowd yell profanity at my opponents and purposely distracting them in-between points?”

Speaking ahead of Saturday night’s final against Kyrgios and Kokkinakis, Ebden said: “The pressure is on them for sure. They’ve had pressure on them their whole lives.

“They love the show and all that. We know exactly what they can do. We respect how they can play.

“We have to find out way to counter that, do what we do.”

Kyrgios hasn’t apologised for anything during the Australian Open and after his and Kokkinakis’ semi-final win, doubled down on his commitment to entertain.

“I think the Australian Open, for the sport, we need more attention, we need more viewers,” he said.

“My goal is to only bring new fans that may not be following tennis to watch tennis. If they flick on a match and they have Thanasi and I playing in an entertaining doubles match, they know nothing about tennis, if they watch that match just then, they probably would tune in next time.

“That’s what I’m about. That’s what I want to bring. I think that’s how the sport is going to survive.”

The 26-year-old didn’t have much time for Venus either, when asked if he had a response to the Kiwi’s “knob” sledge.

“I’m not going to destroy Michael Venus during this press conference, but Zeballos and Granollers are singles players. They’ve had great careers. I respect them a lot more than I respect Michael Venus,” Kyrgios said.

“I think the balance was there today. I think the quality of tennis was amazing and I think the festival atmosphere was still there.

“I think they embraced it, they knew it was an incredible atmosphere. Zeballos took a selfie with us before we walked out, that’s how you embrace an atmosphere. Do you know what I mean?

“You’re not losing a match and then getting salty about it afterwards. It’s ridiculous.”