Australia’s Nick Kyrgios is winning games but losing money at this year’s Wimbledon.
The 40th-ranked singles player was fined $10,000 for unsportsmanlike conduct, the largest of the penalties announced so far at the All England Club this year.
The controversial tennis player received the fine after he spat at a fan during his first-round win against Britain’s Paul Jubb on Tuesday, an incident Kyrgios acknowledged was intentional during a post-match conference.
“Today, as soon as I won the match, I turned to him … I’ve been dealing with hate and negativity for a long time, so I don’t feel like I owed that person anything,” Kyrgios said.
“He literally came to the match to literally just, like, not even support anyone really,” he continued. “It was more just to stir up and disrespect. That’s fine. But if I give it back to you, then that’s just how it is.”
Kyrgios has been criticized for scuffles with both fans and courtside staff during this year’s Wimbledon.Offside via Getty ImagesKyrgios, who won the match in four sets, also lashed out at a female line judge, calling her a “snitch” after she reported something that Kyrgios had said to the chair umpire.
“Has one person today come here to see her speak? No,” Kyrgios said to the chair umpire. “Why is she doing that? No one person in the stadium has watched her come to do anything. Not one person.”
Kyrgios’s heckling issues continued into the second set when he informed the chair umpire that the crowd had thrown racial slurs at him and maintained that they should be removed.
Luckily, Kyrgios’s on-court drama isn’t affecting his strong game, with the Australian hot-head continuing his wins with a 6-2, 6-3, 6-1 win over Serbia’s Filip Krajinovic in the second round.
In a post-match conference following his stellar performance against Krajinovic, Kyrgios shot back at reporters questioning both his game and Tuesday’s spitting incident.
“I played Filip Krajinovic today. Do you not want to know how I played?” he retorted.
“There was just nothing the media could possibly tell me I did wrong today,” Kyrgios said of Thursday’s match.
“I just know that you can’t possibly ask me anything and stir anything up. I love it because you can’t write anything,” the player continued. “What are you going to say? Nothing today. I’ve dumbfounded all of you.”
Despite a rocky start, Kyrgios will advance to Wimbledon’s third round this Thursday.Offside via Getty ImagesAll eyes will be on Kyrgios for swings — both verbal and physical — this Saturday as he heads into his matchup against Greece’s 5th-ranked Stefanos Tsitsipas, one of Wimbledon’s most-anticipated matchups yet.
