Nick Kyrgios blasts Stefanos Tsitsipas over ugly post-match act

Nick Kyrgios has blasted Stefanos Tsitsipas for his actions after their ill-tempered clash at Wimbledon, criticising the Greek star for his post-match handshake.

Kyrgios shocked the World No.5 in four sets on Saturday to advance to the fourth round after a controversial and fiery clash littered with flashpoints.

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Kyrgios demanded Tsitsipas be defaulted from the match after ugly scenes at the end of the second set when Tsitsipas blasted a ball into the crowd in anger.

The ball didn't appear to hit anyone on the first glance, but did rebound off a wall right next to one man's head.

Kyrgios labelled the umpire a 'disgrace' for not disqualifying Tsitsipas and refused to continue the match until he spoke to the supervisor.

“Is that a default or what? He just hit the ball at the f***ing crowd. Are you dumb?" Kyrgios raged at chair umpire Damien Dumusois.

"So you can hit a ball at the crowd, hit someone and not get defaulted? Are you dumb?

“You’re a disgrace. You change the rules whenever you want …

“Give me all the supervisors. I’m not playing until we get to the bottom of it.”

When the match did eventually continue, Tsitsipas complained to the umpire that Kyrgios had 'zero respect' and said 'this isn't tennis'.

The match then descended into more controversy after the final point when Tsitsipas and Kyrgios engaged in a frosty handshake at the net.

Tsitsipas was clearly in no mood to congratulate Kyrgios, with fans noticing their handshake was over in a millisecond.

Tsitsipas hardly made eye contact with the Aussie star and couldn't get off the court quick enough.

Kyrgios then blasted Tsitsipas in his post-match press conference.

"I can officially say I have never given a handshake like that in my life," he said.

"Every time I've lost, when I defaulted against Ruud, I looked people in the eye and I say, Well done today, you were the better man, and he wasn't man enough to do that today."

Stefanos Tsitsipas labels Nick Kyrgios a 'bully'

In his own press conference, Tsitsipas branded Kyrgios a 'bully'.

The Greek star apologised for whacking a ball into the crowd but said he had been 'triggered' by the behaviour of Kyrgios.

“It’s constant bullying, that’s what he does,” Tsitsipas said.

“He bullies the opponents. He was probably a bully at school himself. I don’t like bullies. I don’t like people that put other people down.

“He has some good traits in his character, as well. But when he - he also has a very evil side to him, which if it’s exposed, it can really do a lot of harm and bad to the people around him.

“Myself, when I feel like other people disrespect me and don’t respect what I’m doing from the other side of the court, it’s absolute normal from my side to act and do something about it.”

A frustrated Tsitsipas added: "It felt like a bit of a circus. You get tired of the constant talking, the constant complaining."

Tsitsipas copped a point penalty late in the match after smacking a return off a Kyrgios under-arm serve deliberately into the scoreboard, while Kyrgios received a code violation after a line judge reported him for audible obscenity.

Tsitsipas also appeared to aim shots in the direction of the Australian while Kyrgios continued to talk between points and bowed to the crowd at one stage.

For his part, Kyrgios was full of praise for Tsitsipas in his on-court interview.

"I felt like the favourite coming in. I played in a couple of weeks ago but I knew it was going to be a tough match," Kyrgios said.

"He's a hell of a player and it was a hell of a match. I'm just super happy to be through.

"He was getting frustrated at times - it's a frustrating sport. You all think you can play, but it's very frustrating.

"I've got ultimate respect for him. Whatever happens on the sport, I love him and I'm close to his brother so ..."

Kyrgios didn't lose his serve in the entire match, saving all five break points he faced and winning 81 percent of his first-serve points.

In a remarkable day for Australia at Wimbledon, Kyrgios joined Alex de Minaur, Ajla Tomljanovic and Jason Kubler in advancing to the fourth round.

with agencies

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