Nick Kyrgios yesterday accused a coach and a trainer associated with Croatian doubles opponents Mate Pavic and Nikola Mektic of threatening to fight him after the top seeds were bundled out of the Australian Open.
The Australian and his partner, Thanasi Kokkinakis, upset the world No. 1 pairing 7-6 (10/8), 6-3 in front of a boisterous, pro-Australian crowd at the Kia Arena on Friday.
Mektic and Pavic vented their frustrations during the match and Kyrgios said that matters boiled over off the court.
Photo: Reuters
“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,” he wrote on Twitter yesterday. “Tennis is a soft soft sport @TKokkinakis all because I moved and hit them with a tennis ball.”
Kokkinakis responded: “That was crazy!! Mans thought it was @ufc,” referring to mixed martial arts’ Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Pavic and Mektic were not immediately available for comment.
Reports said that Pavic suggested post-match that the crowd should “show some respect,” echoing singles world No. 2 Daniil Medvedev, who blasted fans’ “low IQ” after he beat Kyrgios on Thursday.
“It’s loud. They are pretty loud. Obviously they cheer for Aussies. It wouldn’t hurt them to show some respect to all opponents, to other players,” Pavic reportedly said. “We saw yesterday also with Medvedev how it was. So, yeah, I mean, that’s how they are here. We’re used to that, but like I said, yeah, it wouldn’t hurt them to show some respect.”
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