Aussie tennis great's staggering allegation against Nick Kyrgios
Nick Kyrgios has been hit with a sensational accusation of 'cheating' by Australian tennis great Pat Cash in the wake of his spiteful Wimbledon victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Both players have copped substantial criticism in the wake of their third-round clash, with some observers considering both players lucky not to have been defaulted from the game.
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Tsitsipas avoided serious punishment for hitting a ball into the crowd at one point, nearly hitting a spectator, while Kyrgios was also in hot water with the ATP for his verbal histrionics throughout the match.
The animosity in the match reached a level that left Cash, who commentated the match for the BBC, felt ultimately became completely unedifying.
Tsitsipas was fined $US10,000 ($A14,700) for his indiscretion, while Kyrgios copped a $US4,000 ($A6,000) fine of his own, in addition to the one he earned after spitting towards fans during his first round match.
Kyrgios will be on centre court for his fourth round match against Brandon Nakashima, and Cash sent a clear message about his expectations for the fiery Aussie on the main stage.
"Let's hope he doesn't drop tennis there to a lower level than he did on Saturday," Cash said.
It was a pointed remark but the former Wimbledon champion continued, saying Kyrgios was close to crossing a line between gamesmanship and outright cheating.
"It was absolute mayhem," he said on BBC radio on Sunday.
"He's brought tennis to the lowest level I can see as far as gamesmanship, cheating, manipulation, abuse, aggressive behaviour to umpires, to linesmen.
"He was lucky to even get through the first set, he should have been defaulted in the first set.
"Something's got to be done about it - it's just an absolute circus. Is it entertaining? Yeah, possibly. It's gone to the absolute limit now."
Nick Kyrgios slammed by Aussie great Pat Cash after Wimbledon antics
Cash added that the under-siege chair umpire had 'lost control' of the proceedings.
Ultimately though, Cash said Tsitsipas had gotten sucked in by the mind games and questioned if those kinds of matches, while of great interest, were in the best interests of tennis.
"The gamesmanship. The abuse he was giving," Cash said of Kyrgios.
"Tsitsipas would make a line call and he'd go up there and start complaining, he'd be in his face - that's part of gamesmanship, that's the sort of stuff he does and I think there's a limit.
"I have no problems with a bit of gamesmanship but, when it gets to that level, I think it's just out of control.
"As it was, the umpire lost control. The ball kids were running across the court as Kyrgios was serving, he didn't slow down for any of that stuff.
"Tsitsipas got sucked right into it - so it was entertaining and fascinating, but for me it's gone too far now."
Cash wasn't alone in his harsh criticism of Kyrgios, with three-time Australian Open champion Mats Wilander also left unimpressed by the spectacle.
Wilander said the sideshow between points was distracting from the skills of both players.
"I've never seen anything like it," he told Eurosport.
"I'm not sure I want to see something like that again, to be honest, because I don't think this is what we want to promote in tennis. We want to not promote it as entertainment.
"We want to promote it as inspirational, educational, but this is what people maybe want to see. I'm not sure I'm a big fan of what's going on to be honest."
Curiously, even famous tennis bad-boy John McEnroe had reservations of his own.
"It's embarrassing. He doesn't need to do all this," McEnroe said of Kyrgios while commentating the match for ESPN.
"It's scary how good he is - that's what's sad in a way."
With AAP
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