Tennis: Nick Kyrgios puts Stuttgart racism incident behind him, says he deals with it more than anyone

Nick Kyrgios has put the racist taunts directed at him at Stuttgart behind him, stating that despite him being a favourite of the crowd, he deals with racism more than any other player.

Nick Kyrgios confirmed that Saturday’s Stuttgart racism incident is now just a memory after starting this week’s ATP event in Halle with a solid victory on Tuesday.

The crowd-pleasing Australian sent over eight aces and never faced a break point in his Halle debut as he beat German Daniel Altmeier 6-3, 6-5 to reach the second round.

The 72-minute win was a tonic for the semi-finalist who faced a smattering of racist abuse from the stands at the weekend in Stuttgart as he lost 7-6 (7/5), 6-2 to Andy Murray.

“You’ve got to have a short term memory in this game,” the number 65 said. “In most of my matches I’m the favourite of the crowd all over the world. “But I’ve been dealing with it (racism) for the last few years. At Indian Wells someone screamed (something racist) at Naomi Osaka and it affected the match.” The 27-year-old added: “I’m not going to stand for racism. It’s not easy for me to brush it off. It’s hard to just move on from something like that.” The wild card said he’s been a target more than most.

“I’ve dealt with it more than anyone. I can deal with the heckling and nasty things that are said, I’ve played in some brutal conditions.

“But racism - we can’t stand for that as players.” Kyrgios said it’s nothing personal from his side: “I want to put on a show, I have nothing against the crowd but we need to keep within the rules.”

Tournament apologises to Kyrgios over racist taunts

The Stuttgart ATP event on Sunday issued an apology to world number 78 Nick Kyrgios after an ugly racial incident during his semi-final loss to Andy Murray.

Kyrgios was insulted midway through what turned into a 7-6 (7/5), 6-2 loss to three-time Grand Slam winner Murray on Saturday.

Kyrgios was penalised a point and then a game for unsportsmanlike conduct early in the second set, smashing a racquet before an angry exchange with a group in the crowd.

The 27-year-old Australian, who is of Greek origin, said he had been the victim of racism.

“When is this going to stop? Dealing with racist slurs from the crowd?” Kyrgios wrote on Instagram.

“I understand that my behaviour isn’t the best all the time, but ‘you little black sheep’ ‘shut up and play’ – little comments like this are not acceptable.

Nick Kyrgios smashed a racquet before an exchange with the crowd in Stuttgart.

“When I retaliate to the crowd I get penalised. This is messed up.”

Tournament bosses expressed their regrets prior to Murray’s final against Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini.

“We have expressed our regret to Nick Kyrgios and his team at what has happened and have assured him that we do not accept such behaviour,” a statement read.

“The incident is currently being investigated by those responsible.

“The ATP tournament in Stuttgart stands for creating an integrative environment for all players, coaches, visitors and employees in which discrimination – of any kind – has no place,” a statement read.

“This attitude is lived by those responsible and therefore has top priority for the event, as does compliance with sporting values such as fairness, tolerance and team spirit.”

“In this sense, no discriminatory statements on the part of viewers will be accepted.”

Kyrgios is due to carry on in Germany next week at the Halle ATP 500 tournament.

The tournament has apologised to Nick Kyrgios.

KYRGIOS CALLS OUT RACIST TAUNTS

Erin Smith and Marc McGowan

Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios claims he was the victim of racism from the Stuttgart crowd during his semi-final loss to former world No. 1 Andy Murray.

Kyrgios took to Instagram after his straight sets 7-6 6-2 loss at the Stuttgart Open to complain that he’d been called “black sheep” by heckling members of the crowd.

The volatile Australian destroyed his racquet after losing the first set to Murray and was never in the contest thereafter.

“When is this going to stop?” Kyrgios wrote on Instagram.

“Dealing with racial slurs from the crowd? I UNDERSTAND THAT MY BEHAVIOUR ISNT THE BEST ALL THE TIME – but ‘you little BLACK SHEEP’ ‘shut up and play’ little comments like this are NOT ACCEPTABLE.

“When I retaliate to the crowd I get penalised. This is messed up.”

Part of the message Nick Kyrgios posted on social media.

A frustrated Nick Kyrgios on court. Picture: Christian Kaspar-Bartke/Getty Images

Kyrgios’s behaviour is set to come under further scrutiny from the ATP after the umpire penalised the Australian with a point penalty and game penalty in the second set.

Kyrgios then refused to continue to play, sitting in his chair until the tournament supervisor came out to convince him to keep playing out the match.

He has already racked up large fines this year so it will be interesting to see how the ATP responds to his behaviour now that there are allegations he was the victim of racism on court.

Murray said Kyrgios made his job easier with his meltdown.

“You’re always kind of battling yourself as well as the opponent, it’s one of the difficult things about individual sports,” Murray said.

“Nick has the potential to be one of the best players in the world, there’s absolutely no question about that. But, yeah, he obviously got very frustrated in the second set and made it a lot easier for me.

“But look, I’m happy to be in the final. I’ve played well this week and I’ve got a great opportunity against Matteo (Berrettini) tomorrow.

“The second set was not much fun to play, it was not very competitive,” Murray said.

“It wasn’t really a match. He started well but closer to the end he got frustrated. The first set was tough and the end of the first set was the crucial part of the match.

“You expect things to happen against him, so I’m not surprised when they do. “It was a very frustrating set for him to lose and he broke a racquet. He also had a back and forth with the umpire and something seemed to happen in the crowd.

“But I didn’t really hear anything after the first set.”

Berrettini reached his fourth career final on grass as he overcame German Oscar Otte 7-6 (9/7), 7-6 (7/5).

Kyrgios moves into Stuttgard semis

– Erin Smith and Marc McGowan

Nick Kyrgios will supercharge his Wimbledon preparations when he faces former world No. 1 and close friend Andy Murray in the Stuttgart semi-finals.

Kyrgios, playing his first tournament in two months after skipping the French Open, set up the Murray showdown when fifth-seeded Marton Fucsovics retired trailing 7-6 (7-3) 3-0.

The 78th-ranked Canberran sent down six aces and didn’t face a break point in the 53-minute encounter before Fucsovics called it quits because of a lower back complaint.

Kyrgios is unseeded at his first grass-court event of the year but remains one of the most feared players on the surface as he chases his first ATP singles title since winning in Washington in August 2019.

Nick Kyrgios was a set and a break up on Marton Fucsovics when the latter retired because of a lower back issue. Picture: Getty Images

He will have to overcome a lopsided head-to-head record against Murray to go any further in Germany, with local favourite Oscar Otte and Italian No. 2 seed Matteo Berrettini in the other semi-final.

Murray progressed with a 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 victory over top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas and has won five of his six matches with Kyrgios, although the Australian won their last clash at Queen’s Club in 2018.

“I know what to expect but he also is a veteran on the grass and I don’t want to take him lightly at all,” Kyrgios said.

“I’m just going to go out there, serve big, look after my serve and see what I can do on his return games.”

Andy Murray stands between Nick Kyrgios and making the Stuttgart singles final. Picture: Getty Images

Elsewhere, Ajla Tomljanovic’s Nottingham run ended in a 6-2 7-6 (8-6) quarter-final defeat to Viktorija Golubic, of Switzerland.

But there is guaranteed to be an Australian in the Nottingham men’s final, with third-seeded Jordan Thompson and No. 5 seed Alexei Popyrin locking horns in the semi-finals.

Thompson, who won last week’s Surbiton Trophy title, outlasted Kazakh Mikhail Kukushkin 6-2 4-6 6-3, while Popyrin breezed past Brit Ryan Peniston 6-3 6-4.

Another Australian, Jason Kubler, is also hunting back-to-back titles after moving past American Ulises Blanch 6-3 3-6 6-1 to reach the semi-finals at the Challenger event in Orlando.

The fourth seed will need to beat top seed J.J Wolf to make the final.

Aussie rising star into Nottingham quarter-finals

Marc McGowan

Young gun Alexei Popyrin is the first Australian into the Nottingham quarter-finals – but Daria Saville’s grass-court campaign hasn’t started quite so smoothly.

Fifth-seeded Popyrin posted another straight-sets win, blasting 10 aces past Frenchman Antoine Escoffier to book a last-eight clash with Brit Ryan Peniston, who ousted No. 2 seed Jiri Vesely in the first round.

The world No. 100 has never advanced beyond round two at Wimbledon but hopes to change that this year.

Countryman and last week’s Surbiton Trophy champion Jordan Thompson, the third seed, will try to join Popyrin in the quarter-finals when he takes on Great Britain’s Jay Clarke.

It was tough going for the other Australians in action, including Saville, who not only went down in her Rosmalen Grass Court Championships opener but also misplaced her luggage en route to her next event.

It’s funny but also not funny cause I don’t have grass court shoes for when I play on Saturday 🥲 pray for me pic.twitter.com/yrYUpzSI2M

— Daria Saville (@Daria_gav) June 8, 2022

Playing at ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, Saville lost 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 to American qualifier Catherine McNally to be one of five Aussies to bow out of contention.

The 28-year-old will continue her Wimbledon preparations at the WTA 500 tournament in Berlin, Germany, but will be on the hunt for replacement grass-court shoes and other equipment.

Storm Sanders and fellow qualifiers Olivia Gadecki and Taylah Preston all lost their first-round matches in three sets at ‘s-Hertogenbosch.

Sanders was unable to repeat her Billie Jean King Cup upset last year of eighth-seeded Belgian star Elise Mertens, being outlasted 6-7 (5-7) 6-1 6-2.

On the men’s side, Matt Ebden also qualified before losing 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (11-9) to Dutch wildcard Tim van Rijthoven.

No. 4 seed Alex de Minaur and James Duckworth are the last Australians standing, with Duckworth trailing French veteran Gilles Simon by a set and a break when rain intervened.

Aussie ‘Pop’ off to rousing start in Nottingham

Australia’s Alexei Popyrin has scored his first grass-court win of the year as he ramps up his Wimbledon preparations.

Popyrin lost last week in Surbiton to eventual finalist Denis Kudla to start his grass season but hit nine aces in sweeping past Slovak veteran Lukas Lacko 6-4 6-2 in 65 minutes in his Nottingham opener.

The big-striking world No. 100 is trying to rebuild his ranking after a prolonged form slump to start the year, and made positive strides towards that with a Challenger title win in Bordeaux ahead of the French Open.

Joining fifth-seeded Popyrin in the Nottingham men’s draw are last week’s Surbiton champion Jordan Thompson, the No. 3 seed, and fourth-seeded John Millman, who both begin against qualifiers.

Maddison Inglis and Astra Sharma both failed to qualify overnight for the women’s draw at Nottingham, where 2021 Wimbledon quarter-finalist Ajla Tomljanovic will fly the flag as the No. 5 seed.

Olivia Gadecki battled through qualifying to earn her spot in the Rosmalen Grass Court Championships main draw. Picture: Tennis Australia

But fellow Australians Storm Sanders and Olivia Gadecki reached the Rosmalen Grass Court Championships main draw, in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands.

Sixteen-year-old rising star Taylah Preston was already a shock qualifier a day earlier, with Sanders beating Belgian Yanina Wickmayer 6-1 7-5, while Gadecki outlasted Czech teenager Linda Fruhvirtova 6-3 6-7 (5-7) 7-5.

In-form Daria Saville is also in the ‘s-Hertogenbosch draw as she resumes her bid to return to the top 100.

Sanders faces Belgian star and eighth seed Elise Mertens in a rematch of their Billie Jean King Cup clash in November last year, when the Aussie scored a surprise three-set triumph.

Alex de Minaur, who has a first-round bye, is the No. 4 seed in the men’s draw, where James Duckworth is also in action.

Nick Kyrgios and Chris O’Connell are playing in the ATP 250 grass-court event at Stuttgart.

Originally published as Tennis: Nick Kyrgios puts Stuttgart racism incident behind him, says he deals with it more than anyone