Australian tennis player Nick Kyrgios has added another controversy to his brief but checkered career after slamming Swiss player Stan Wawrinka about the latter's girlfriend during a match in Canada last night.
The Australian, 20, was trailing by a set against French Open champion Wawrinka at the Montreal Masters when the incident occurred as the players swapped ends. Kyrgios, whose comments were recorded by a courtside microphone, told Wawrinka: "Kokkinakis banged your girlfriend, sorry to tell you that mate." The comment was presumably a reference to Kyrgios's fellow Australian tennis player Thanasi Kokkinakis and Donna Vekic, a 19-year-old Croatian tennis player to whom Wawrinka has been linked. Kyrgios went on to win the second set and the match when Wawrinka retired with a back injury in the final set, in which Kyrgios was leading 4-0.
Wawrinka expressed his disgust at the comments on Twitter after the match and said he hopes the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), the governing body of male tennis, "stands up for the integrity of this sport that we have worked so hard to build."
So disappointing to see a fellow athlete and colleague be so disrespectful in a way I could never even imagine.
— Stanislas Wawrinka (@stanwawrinka) August 13, 2015
What was said I wouldn't say to my worst enemy.
— Stanislas Wawrinka (@stanwawrinka) August 13, 2015
To stop so low is not only unacceptable but also beyond belief.
Kyrgios was unrepentant in a post-match interview, saying that Wawrinka was "getting a bit lippy with me" and that he had made the comment "in the heat of the moment." In his interview, Wawrinka said he had confronted Kyrgios over the comments and that the Australian had to be punished for his repeated infractions. "I really hope the ATP will take major action against him this time," said Wawrinka.
Kyrgios, who began his professional career in 2012 and beat then-world number one Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon 2014, has been at the centre of several controversies. At last year's Wimbledon, Kyrgios was penalised an entire game after three code violations in a single match. The Australian had a number of misdemeanours at this year's Wimbledon, including throwing his racket into the ground so hard that it bounced up into the crowd. He was also accused of tankingor giving up at points during the matchduring his fourth-round exit to Frenchman Richard Gasquet. Following the defeat, Kyrgios was embroiled in a racism row with Australian Olympian Dawn Fraser. Kyrgios accused Fraser of racism after the latter denounced his behaviour and said that Kyrgios and fellow Australian player Bernard Tomic could "go back to where their fathers or their parents are from" if they weren't ready to behave properly on court.
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Conor is a staff writer for Newsweek covering Africa, with a focus on Nigeria, security and conflict.
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