Kyrgios fined, apologises over Wawrinka sledge
Another week, another Nick Kyrgios drama.
The Australian tennis brat has been fined US$10,000 and could face further disciplinary action after an appalling on-court sledge that outraged Swiss star Stan Wawrinka and quite possibly slandered his girlfriend.
In a match at the Montreal Masters, the brash young Aussie lashed out in frustration at his opponent Wawrinka, telling the world number five and one-time Australian Open winner: “[Thanasi] Kokkinakis banged your girlfriend. Sorry to tell you that, mate.”
Kokkinakis, also Australian, is 19 years old and occasionally plays doubles and David Cup with Kyrgios.
Kyrgios’ behaviour has not only attracted the ire of Association of Tennis Professionals [ATP].
The crowd also turned against him, booing him when he returned to court the following day.
Wawrinka, 30, split from his wife in April and is now reportedly dating 19-year-old Croatian player Donna Vekic.
The sledge was captured by courtside microphones midway through the Rogers Cup match – Kyrgios won after his opponent retired deep in the third set – and had gone viral even before it had finished.
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Overnight, it was confirmed that the ATP had fined Kyrgios, who unreservedly apologised. Further action could still be taken.
“Nick Kyrgios has been fined the maximum on-site amount of $10,000 for an insulting comment he made to Stan Wawrinka,” the ATP said in a statement.
“The ATP … is still reviewing that matter and additional penalties may be forthcoming.”
Kyrgios promptly went into damage control, apologising on Twitter and Facebook, and to Wawrinka personally.
It was unclear whether he’d apologised to Vekic or, for that matter, Kokkinakis.
“I would like to take this opportunity to apologise for the comments I made during the match last night vs Stan,” Kyrgios tweeted.
He also posted the comment on Facebook, adding: “My comments were made in the heat of the moment and were unacceptable on many levels.
“In addition to the private apology I’ve made, I would like to make a public apology as well. I take full responsibility for my actions and regret what happened.”
Wimbledon was a fortnight of drama for Kyrgios. Photo: AAP
The problem for Kyrgios is that his latest appalling lapse isn’t isolated.
It was just the latest furore in a year that has seen him involved in incident after incident.
First, there was a string of on-court tantrums and tirades at the Australian Open, and his Wimbledon campaign was a complete farce, as he appeared to call an umpire “dirty scum”, faced allegations of tanking and displayed the petulance that is becoming more of a trait than a rarity.
He didn’t stop.
He slammed Pat Rafter on Twitter before a crucial Davis Cup quarter-final against Kazakhstan and then, during a surprise defeat in the Darwin tie, cried: “I don’t want to be here.”
And now this.
The Australian public is quickly losing patience and on Thursday, for the first time, it seemed as if the players were too.
Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Richard Gasquet were reluctant to criticise Kyrgios at Wimbledon. In fact, they all leapt to his defence.
But now, just maybe, Kyrgios has lost the players as well.
Wawrinka’s reaction to the comments was telling.
In a series of angry tweets following the match, he wrote:
19-year-old Czech tennis player Donna Vekic, the subject of Kyrgios’ controversial sledge.
Wawrinka followed the comments in a post-match interview in which he claimed Kyrgios has ‘big problems’.
“I think the way he behaves on court, he has big problems. I just hope that the ATP will take big measures against him because he’s young, maybe, but there’s no excuse,” he said.
“Every match he has problems. Every match he behaves very badly.
“On top of that, the problem is that he doesn’t just behave badly towards himself, he behaves very badly towards the people around: the other players, the ball kids, the umpires.
“I really hope the ATP will take major action against him this time.”
Wawrinka added that he tried to confront Kyrgios but that the Australian was trying to hide from him.
“He tried to avoid me, but I confronted him. It will stay in the locker room. But I think there are things, regardless of how you are, regardless of the stress you have on court, there are things you just cannot say.”
Wawrinka’s coach, former player Magnus Norman, did not hold back either.
Kyrgios said afterwards that Wawrinka provoked the comment.
“He was getting a bit lippy with me. [It was] kind of in the heat of the moment. I don’t know. I just said it,” he claimed.
Wawrinka during his Queen’s win over Kyrgios. Photo: AAP
Kyrgios’ mother, Nill, posted in a now-deleted Tweet from a now-deleted account: “A sledge for a sledge…do your research before piping up like sheep! #moaners.”
She was likely referring to comments made by Wawrinka in June, but they could be hardly considered a sledge.
After losing to Wawrinka in 49 minutes at Queen’s, Kyrgios said he had “been sick for the last week” and “felt uncomfortable”.
Wawrinka responded: “I think he’s saying a lot of things every day, so it’s quite interesting for journalists to hear that.
“When I read his interview, it’s always funny…When I read before the match he was ready, excited for the challenge, and now he was sick.
“So I’m just saying he’s saying a lot of things…He has a lot of good energy on the court for the people, for the crowd, and I think it’s good to have some players like that for tennis.”
If the Kyrgios camp interpreted that as a sledge, it’s no wonder he thinks everyone is against him. They aren’t – yet.
Earlier this week, it emerged that Lleyton Hewitt is mentoring Kyrgios ahead of the US Open. Clearly, he has his work cut out for him.