Wimbledon: Tsitsipas calls Kyrgios a 'bully', Aussie terms him 'soft'

The Aussie, who won the testy encounter 6-7 (2), 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (7), responded by saying the Greek was being "soft". Drama and entertainment are never far when Kyrgios is on court. And it proved no different on Court 1 on Saturday.

Tennis was scintillating throughout the three-hour 17-minute match but it was overshadowed by Kyrgios' histrionics and Tsitsipas losing his cool. It all began with the 27-year-old Kyrgios demanding that his opponent be defaulted after the latter angrily whacked a ball into the stands, although didn't directly hit any spectator, after losing a tightly contested first set. Kyrgios, who has been fined £10,000 for spitting at a spectator in his first-round match, cited the instance of Novak Djokovic getting disqualified during the 2020 US Open over hitting a line judge.

He called for the tournament referee and continued to chat with the umpire between points and during breaks on the topic. Tsitsipas, who received a code violation for the particular incident, began to wear thin on patience and at one point smacked a return into the stands again. He was given a point penalty for the repeat offence. "It's constant bullying, that's what he does. He bullies the opponents. He was probably a bully at school himself," an upset Tsitsipas told reporters after the loss. "He has some good traits in his character, as well. But...he also has a very evil side to him, which if it's exposed, it can really do a lot of harm and bad to the people around him." The 23-year-old, who frequently targeted Kyrgios, said the players needed to come together and decide that his rival's behaviour on court was not acceptable anymore. "The constant talking, the constant complaining. I mean, I'm about to serve, and there is a big