Nick Kyrgios punished for spitting at fan in Wimbledon crowd
Never too far away from controversy is Nick Kyrgios, with his latest outburst at his first round match at Wimbledon against Paul Jubb where he spat at a fan.
However, he’s now been fined $10,000 (£8,200) for the incident which is the largest penalty anyone has received at Wimbledon so far this year.
The Aussie overcame this to win the match 3-6, 6-1, 7-5, 6-7 (3), 7-5 against the Brit, but this unsportsmanlike conduct soured the match as he claimed to the umpire he was being targeted with racial slurs.
— Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) June 25, 2022
When the world No 40 was asked if he spat in the direction of a fan he replied: “Of one of the people disrespecting me, yes. Yes. I would not be doing that to someone who was supporting me.
“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.
“He literally came to the match to not even support anyone really, 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.”
But Kyrgios isn’t the only player to have been dished out a punishment for their behaviour at Wimbledon.
So far a total of 14 players have been handed fines at this year’s Championships including Alexander Ritschard who was defeated in the opening round at the hands of Stefanos Tsitsipas and was fined $5000 (£4,100) for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Kyrgios is still in with a chance at SW19 though as he’s through to the third round after beating Filip Krajinovic from Serbia yesterday and is set to play Tsitsipas tomorrow.
He was also due to play in the doubles tournament with his partner Thanasi Kokkinakis, however they have both withdrawn so Kyrgios can focus on singles.