Nick Kyrgios and Stefanos Tsitsipas reignite feud after ‘clown’ comment

Kevin Palmer
February 5, 2023

Nick Kyrgios and Stefanos Tsitsipas appeared to thraw their frosty relationship when they played doubles together in Saudi Arabia in December, but their feud has now been reignited.

Tsitsipas made comments about Aussie maverick Kyrgios as he spoke to the media while playing for Greece in the Davis Cup.

Reflecting on their heated battle at Wimbledon last summer, Tsitsipas suggested his rival ‘broke’ their relationship with what many observers suggested was a provocative display.

“He was the one who broke our relationship. I didn’t do anything,” said Tsitsipas.

“In 2022 at Wimbledon, I was only trying to compete, while he was playing the clown. It also depends on how he wakes up each day.”

Kyrgios referred to Tsitsipas as “soft” in his post-match press conference, with some suggesting that comment had deeper connotations.

And he didn’t take long to respond to the comments from Tsitsipas, as he took to Twitter to remind his audience that the Greek star was fortunate to finish the match on Court No.1 at Wimbledon after he smashed a ball into the crowd in anger.

Right….. this the match he hit someone in the crowd….. belted another ball out of the stadium and got taught a lesson in front of another full stadium….. https://t.co/NU5Hs6Al0S

— Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) February 4, 2023

This battle is set to run and run as the next batch of shows in the Netflix series Break Point is set to offer viewers a behind-the-scene glimpse of what was an epic night match at Wimbledon.

The tension between the two players on the court was matched by explosive press conferences after Kyrgios won the match, with Tsitsipas offering up strong comments as he described his opponent as “evil” and “a bully” shortly after his defeat.

“I wish we could all come together and put a rule in place,” said the 23-year-old. “I don’t know. Something about talking. Why would you be talking while you’re playing? It makes no sense. You are out there to do your job. Tennis is the most important thing that we are doing out there.

“Every single point that I played today I feel like there was something going on on the other side of the net.

“I’m not trying to be distracted by that, because I know it might be intentional. And that’s his way of manipulating the opponent and making you feel distracted, in a way.

“There is no other player that does this. There is no other player that is so upset and frustrated all the time with something. It triggers it so easy and so fast.

“I really hope all us players can come up with something and make this a cleaner version of our sport, have this kind of behaviour not accepted, not allowed, not tolerated, and move on better.”

Kyrgios is currently recovering from knee surgery, but the next time he gets drawn to play against Tsitsipas is certain to be box office viewing.

Nick Kyrgios Stefanos Tsitsipas