Nick Kyrgios rips 'boring' rival as ugly war of words explodes

It's safe to say Nick Kyrgios and Borna Coric won't be having a beer with one another anytime soon.

The tennis rivals have been engaged in a war of words after Kyrgios took aim at all those who played in the ill-fated Adria Tour.

'INCREASED RISK': New twist around Ash Barty bombshell

'CREEPING ME OUT': Ugly backlash over Naomi Osaka photos

YIKES: Fans spot disturbing detail in Boris Becker photos

Coric, one of four players to test positive for coronavirus at the Balkans event last month, fired back this week, suggesting criticism from Kyrgios, who has a hot-headed reputation on court, was not credible.

"I read what he wrote, but I simply don't care since he likes to be a 'general after a battle'," Coric told the Jutarnji List newspaper.

"If someone else was teaching lessons I would have maybe understood, but Kyrgios ... It's somehow not realistic.

"But ok, it's his style, that's how he functions, I have no problem with that neither does it bother me on personal level."

Kyrgios responded on Twitter late Wednesday by saying: "You should care. Do you have rocks in your head?

"Again, you can stand up for your mates, I'm just trying to hold them accountable. When I said what I said, I didn't intend to bother. They are tennis players, they aren't special.

"Just as I thought, Coric intellectual level = 0," he added, ending his tweet with an emoji of a doughnut.

He then called out Coric for ignoring Dimitrov’s warning about the effects of the coronavirus and how he was impacted.

Not content to let the feud die down, Coric has since fired back by suggesting the Aussie firebrand is being hypocritical about preaching good behaviour.

The Serbian star then suggested Kyrgios must either be extremely bored or he's had too much red wine, in what would appear to be a pointed reference to the Aussie's boozy social media chat with Andy Murray.

The 25-year-old Aussie has a habit of getting in the last word and his response to Coric's post was particularly scathing.

Kyrgios incensed by rivals’ virus response

"Again. Joking about a global pandemic. Shows your maturity level champion. Gonna be good to see you next, see if that peanut of a brain has grown," Kyrgios wrote.

"But yes, a tad bored watching your boring ass tennis and personality bringing absolutely zero to the sport," he added in a follow-up tweet.

Kyrgios has previously lashed German Alexander Zverev as "selfish" after he was spotted partying despite vowing to self-isolate following the Adria Tour.

He has also traded barbs with Austrian world number three Dominic Thiem, who also played in the exhibition.

Serbian world number one Djokovic subsequently apologised for the event, where players embraced across the net and later went to a nightclub.

Djokovic, Thiem, Zverev, Coric and Kyrgios were on the entry list released Wednesday for the ATP and WTA Western and Southern Open, a tune-up for the US Open from August 20-28 in a quarantine environment without spectators at Flushing Meadows.

If they all turn up, it will be the first tournament they have played together since the war of words erupted.

with agencies