Stefanos Tsitsipas and Nick Kyrgios don't see eye to eye, and it was obvious during their clash at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships, which featured lots of drama.
Kyrgios and Tsitsipas were contesting an important match for both players at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships. It was the third round, so the winner would secure a spot in the fourth round and a chance to go to the quarter-finals.
Kyrgios is the more natural player on grass, and he ultimately won the match against Tsitsipas, but the match will mostly be remembered for the drama rather than the tennis played.
The tennis was high-quality at times, but the drama was exquisite. Tsitsipas grew increasingly frustrated, and at one point, he hit the ball carelessly. In the last game of the second set, Tsitsipas hit the ball into the crowd in anger and hit one of the fans.
After that, Kyrgios asked for his Greek opponent to be defaulted from the match and things got quite heated then. The Australian pleaded with the umpire about the situation, explaining that the Greek player should be defaulted from the match.
Novak Djokovic was famously defaulted from the US Open for hitting an umpire, so it wouldn't be the first time something like that would happen. Tsitsipas ultimately wasn't defaulted, so the match continued, but Kyrgios wasn’t very happy with the umpire's decision.
In the third set, Tsitsipas hit the ball into the crowd once again, and this time, he received a point penalty. During the match, the Greek also complained about his opponent using his spot for the towel, but that issue was quickly solved.
The tension was palpable as both players displayed quite a bit of emotion. It wasn’t just the electric atmosphere of a competitive match; there was more to it. Tsitsipas' outburst and Kyrgios' claims for the default weren’t the last part of the dramatic encounter, either.
Tsitsipas ended up actually hitting Kyrgios at one point in the match. Things like that happen in tennis, but in the way it unfolded, it seemed like he was aiming at his opponent. The Greek player tried hitting his opponent more times in a row until he finally managed to hit him right in the chest.