Nick Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic reignite bitter war of words
Australian tennis professionals Nick Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic have reignited their long-running feud with a fresh social media spat.
The former friends and doubles partners fell out some time ago and now it appears there is no love lost between them.
It was Tomic who fired the first salvo this time claiming that Kyrgios lives in his shadow.
“He’s always been in my shadow growing up,” said the 29-year-old World No 418.
“That’s why any time someone mentions my name to him, it gets under his skin.
“He knows he can’t rewrite history. The records that I set when I was 16, 17, 18, and 19 – youngest Slam quarter-finalist at Wimbledon (in 2011, since Boris Becker), the biggest tournament in the world.”
Kyrgios wasn’t going to let Tomic’s swipe slide past him and he fired his backhand return straight down the line.
“HAHA TOMIC let’s not forget the time I paid for your flight home from Shanghai because you had no money,” Kyrgios wrote on Instagram.
“Hahahaha rewrite history, you are the most HATED athlete in Australia. You are right, no one can take over that.”
Tomic hasn’t made an appearance at a full ATP Tour event this season and has struggled for results on the Challenger Tour.
Kyrgios took the opportunity to remind Tomic of the difference in their relative fortunes.
The World No 76 posted a screenshot of Tomic’s recent results captioned: “Bernard, I didn’t realise it was this bad.
“Hit me up if you need me to help you remember how to play. Geezus.”
Tomic has a history of off-colour comments and hasn’t won many fans through his actions.
Kyrgios calls him the most hated sportsman in Australia, likely a reference to Tomic allegedly attending ‘cocaine parties’ and consorting with organised crime figures.
Tomic has also been arrested for speeding on the Gold Coast on two separate occasions.
Neither Tomic nor Kyrgios are at the French Open with the latter not really a fan of playing on clay, although he recently admitted that he was starting to feel more comfortable on the surface.
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