Tennis star Nick Kyrgios has been accused of ‘cheating’ and ‘abuse’ by fellow Australian countryman Pat Cash.
It was a fiery third-round Wimbledon matchup between Kyrgios and Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas that saw both players cop fines from the ATP for actions within the match.
Tsitsipas was fined $14,700 (US$10,000) for hitting a ball into the crowd and almost hitting a spectator, while Kyrgios was at it again with verbal complaints towards the umpire and throughout, subsequently causing a $6,000 (US$4,000) in his wallet.
Former world number four, Cash was commenting on the match for the BBC and slammed the behaviour of Kyrgios who he believes is disrespecting the game.
Speaking on the upcoming matchup between the Australian and American Brandon Nakashima, Cash said: “Let’s hope he doesn’t drop tennis there to a lower level than he did on Saturday.”
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Tsitsipas could have been thrown into default by chair umpire Damien Dumusois, while he also twice tried to deliberately hit Kyrgios with the ball.
However, following the match the Greek player called Kyrgios a ‘bully’ with an ‘evil side’, seemingly pinning the antics of the match solely on the Australian.
Speaking on BBC Radio, Pat Cash agreed with Tsitsipas’ sentiment.
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He said: "It was absolute mayhem.
"He's brought tennis to the lowest level I can see as far as gamesmanship, cheating, manipulation, abuse, aggressive behaviour to umpires, to linesmen.
"He was lucky to even get through the first set, he should have been defaulted in the first set.
"Something's got to be done about it - it's just an absolute circus. Is it entertaining? Yeah, possibly. It's gone to the absolute limit now."
Cash maintained that Tsitsipas was goaded into the mind games of Kyrgios with the game falling into chaos.
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Cash continued: “The gamesmanship. The abuse he (Kyrgios) was giving.
"Tsitsipas would make a line call and he'd go up there and start complaining, he'd be in his face - that's part of gamesmanship, that's the sort of stuff he does and I think there's a limit.
"I have no problems with a bit of gamesmanship but, when it gets to that level, I think it's just out of control.
"As it was, the umpire lost control. The ball kids were running across the court as Kyrgios was serving, he didn't slow down for any of that stuff.
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"Tsitsipas got sucked right into it - so it was entertaining and fascinating, but for me it's gone too far now."
Kyrgios’ behaviour has become commonplace at major tournaments, with his third-round fine signally his second in three games at Wimbledon.
Topics: Nick Kyrgios, Tennis, Wimbledon, Australia
Jayden Collins