‘You’re a disgrace’: Kyrgios refuses to play after Tsitsipas hits ball at crowd

Nick Kyrgios’ Wimbledon match against Stefanos Tsitsipas was delayed in farcical scenes after the Greek star hit a ball at the crowd.

Nick Kyrgios refused to play for several minutes in his blockbuster Wimbledon third round clash against Stefanos Tsitsipas after the Greek star hit a ball into the crowd and appeared to hit someone.

Kyrgios had just squared the match at a set-all in his eventual 6-7 6-4 6-3 7-6 victory when Tsitsipas sent a backhand volley into the audience. A slow-motion replay appeared to show the ball bouncing off a wall and potentially connecting with the back of the head of a man seated close to the court.

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The Aussie demanded his opponent was defaulted from the match like Novak Djokovic at the 2020 US Open – and refused to play until the matter was resolved by officials.

“Is that a default or what? He just hit the ball at the f***ing crowd. Are you dumb? So you can hit a ball at the crowd, hit someone and not get defaulted? Are you dumb?,” he said to the chair umpire.

“You’re a disgrace. You change the rules whenever you want …

“Give me all the supervisors. I’m not playing until we get to the bottom of it.”

Kyrgios eventually agreed to begin the third set and won it quickly to take control of the match up 6-7 6-4 6-3.

But he wasn’t alone in his stance on the situation.

“The idea that this near-miss stands; and Novak’s far less forceful 2020 US Open swat led to immediate default … this rule needs a serious reassessment,” tweeted tennis writer Jon Wertheim.

The match umpire speaks with both Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece and Nick Kyrgios of Australia during their Men's Singles Third Round match. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

Kyrgios progresses to the fourth round where he will meet American 20-year-old Brandon Nakashima, who is ranked 56th in the world.

From there a potential quarter against fellow Aussie Alex De Minaur awaits - and if he can get past that a semi against Rafa Nadal.

But this match will take some beating in the entertainment stakes and had all the hallmarks of a classic early on.

The first three games went to deuce – although neither player was able to break.

Kyrgios began racing through his service games at warp speed, adding a little flavour for the crowd with a tweener serve and another pump-fake tweener serve followed by a bomb down the tee.

Nick Kyrgios with the tweener serve. Forever a showman #Wimbledonpic.twitter.com/cJZHdZNaxA

— Pamela Maldonado (@pamelam35) July 2, 2022

But the wheels fell off after the Aussie was on the wrong side of an incorrect line call as he pushed to break Tsitsipas at 5-5.

Kyrgios was furious and asked the chair umpire to remove the offending linesperson.

“She has one f***ing line to call,” Kyrgios said at the change of ends. “It’s annoying. Mistakes every match. At 5 all.”

Kyrgios has been playing great this year, but when things get tough scorewise he reliably finds someone else to blame for his problems (this time a lineswoman reporting audible obscenity).

I don't know that he's at all self-aware about this, but it's a predictable pattern.

— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) July 2, 2022

He recovered to hold serve and force a tie-breaker, but an early double fault put him behind and it appeared he was wobbling.

Tsitsipas moved ahead 4-2 with a brilliant return past Kyrgios – who was attempting to serve and volley – before the Greek star showed great composure by walking away as Kyrgios prepared to serve while continuing to berate the line judge.

“He’s got every right to do that,” ESPN’s commentator said.

Stefanos Tsitsipas was too good in the first set tie-breaker. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

Kyrgios lost the tie-breaker 7-2 taking his record in tiebreaks in 2022 to 5-8 – and he kept finding new things to complain about early in the second set after Tsitsipas challenged a line call during a point the Aussie ended up winning.

“You know what that’s called? Abuse of the system,” said Kyrgios, because he believed his opponent only challenged once he knew he couldn’t win the point.

Despite all the distractions Kyrgios was relatively untroubled on serve. He had a break point up 4-3 but like the first set was unable to capitalise.

He nearly gave away the following game with a couple of errant attempted drop shots before earning a warning from the chair umpire after being reported by another linesman for offensive language.

Nick Kyrgios was a frustrated man. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

But in the blink of an eye the second set was his.

Tsitsipas showed nerves for the first time in the match down break point at 5-4 and handed Kyrgios a point he had no real right to win.

You would have thought the turn of events would have refocused the Aussie but he returned to his seat in as foul a mood as ever after seeing Tsitsipas hit the ball into the crowd in apparent frustration.

After the disruption, Kyrgios quickly took control of the third set. He broke Tsitsipas in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead before winning his next service game to love.

He secured a 4-1 lead with another drop shot that Tsitsipas smashed hard into the opposite wall to earn a code violation from the umpire and boos from a crowd that was now firmly behind the Aussie.

It was now Tsitsipas having extended discussions with the chair umpire, apparently about how Kyrgios had largely escaped penalty-free for his controversial behaviour.

“We are here to play tennis!” he said.

But he couldn’t reel back Kyrgios – who kept his cool even when Tsitsipas appeared to start intentionally drilling shots at his body.

“He was getting frustrating at times - and it’s a frustrating game,” Kyrgios said post-match.

“Whatever happens on the court stays on the court. I love him. He’s a brother.”

Kyrgios/Tsitsipas — the perfect warmup for Money in the Bank and UFC 276. Has there ever been a Wimbledon fistfight?

— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) July 2, 2022

Some players are cut out for The Kyrgios Show ...The Big Three have their dignified ways of dealing with it. Others happily trade blows...Tsitsipas is singularly ill-suited for this environment... #wimbledon

— Jon Wertheim (@jon_wertheim) July 2, 2022

There was another moment of a drama early in the fourth set when the Aussie lost his footing and went down clutching his hip area.

But he returned to his feet and kept the pressure pouring on the fourth seed.

Tsitsipas was in serious trouble down 15-40 at 3-3 but fought his way out of trouble to renew his hopes of launching a comeback.

He put Kyrgios in the same 15-40 hole in the following game but the Aussie served his way out of trouble.

After a delay to close the roof, Tsitsipas edged back in front at 5-4 — before earning a set point at 30-40 in the following game.

Nick Kyrgios goes down after slipping. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

But Kyrgios ripped a couple of sparkling backhand winners to again stave off the danger.

A straightforward Tsitsipas hold was followed by a Kyrgios service game that was anything but — but again he survived to force another tiebreak.

Kyrgios earned the first mini-break to go ahead 5-4 but Tsitsipas immediately snatched it back and they changed ends again at 6-6.

The tiebreaker became an epic as both men staved off match points with brilliant pressure tennis — but it was Kyrgios who triumphed with a sensational drop shot winner.