Nick Kyrgios makes locker room 'fight' claim after winning Australian Open doubles match with Thanasi Kokkinakis

According to Nick Kyrgios, tennis is a «soft» sport.

Kyrgios made the assertion while claiming he and doubles partner Thanasi Kokkinakis were threatened with violence following their win over number one seeds Nikola Mektić and Mate Pavić at the Australian Open on Friday.

In what was an upset second-round win, Kyrgios and Kokkinakis defeated the Croatian pairing 7-6 (10-8), 6-3 in front of a boisterous crowd on Kia Arena.

The spectators enthusiastically got behind the Australians, who did their best to entertain the masses throughout the match with not only brilliant tennis, but more than the odd display of showmanship.

This did not go down well with Mektić and Pavić, who vented their frustration and even complained to the chair umpire about the behaviour on court. 

And it seems it was also not well received by their support team, if Kyrgios's version of events is anything to go by.

Kyrgios tweeted this morning a claim that a coach and trainer associated with the Croatians made a threat of violence after the match.

«Just letting you know after yesterday's chop fest in doubles my opponents coach and trainer proceeded to threaten to fight in the players gym,» Kyrgios wrote.

«Tennis is a soft soft sport all because I moved and hit them with a tennis ball.»

Kokkinakis likened the scene to a UFC bout.

«That was crazy!!! Mans (sic) thought it was @ufc,» Kokkinakis tweeted.

When Pavić and Mektić spoke to the media after Friday's match, they expressed their disgust with the crowd's «loud» behaviour.

The atmosphere inside Rod Laver Arena for Nick Kyrgios's match with Daniil Medvedev was every bit as electric as the tennis they played but some of the crowd behaviour did not go over well with Russia's world number two player.

Pavić also referred