'She's a snitch!' - Nick Kyrgios slams line judge with 'no fans' in row with umpire at Wimbledon
:focal(178x132:180x130)/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2023/04/03/3673848-74785904-310-310.jpg)
Updated 28/06/2022 at 18:36 GMT
“Has one person today come to see her speak?" Nick Kyrgios asked the umpire about a line judge who annoyed him during his opening match at Wimbledon against Britain's Paul Jubb. "No. I understand, but why is she doing that? Not one person in the stadium has come here to watch her do anything! Not one person. She just selfishly walks to you in the middle of a game because she's a snitch!”
'He's not a villain at all, I'm glad he's here' - Wilander on Kyrgios antics at Wimbledon
Nick Kyrgios was as fiery as ever during his Wimbledon first-round match against Britain's Paul Jubb on Tuesday.
The Australian, who proclaimed himself as one of the best grass-court men's players in the world in the lead-up to the tournament at SW19, struggled badly early on as he lost the opening set to Jubb.
But it was after just 12 minutes when he lost his temper with a line judge following an intervention over a line call. The score was 3-2 to Jubb at the time with the set going on serve.
Kyrgios proceeded to rant at the umpire over the line judge being a "snitch" and made the point abundantly clear that the official in question "had no fans".
“Has one person today come to see her speak?" Kyrgios asked.
"No. I understand, but why is she doing that? Not one person in the stadium has come here to watch her do anything! Not one person.
"Like, you know what I mean? You got fans, but she has got none.
"What did I do? Like, come on. I know, but what? She just selfishly walks to you in the middle of a game because she's a snitch!”
It was not the only time Kyrgios lost his temper with the umpire early on as he ranted about fans and officials during the match on Court 3.
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2022/06/28/3400332-69486808-2560-1440.png)
'Underarm serves are not disrespectful at all' - Wilander on Murray and Kyrgios tactic at Wimbledon
Pre-tournament, Eurosport expert Alex Corretja said he believes the Australian would be a dangerous opponent for any seeded player he faces at Wimbledon this summer.
"If I would be in the Wimbledon draw and I would be seeded, I would pray not to play Kyrgios in the first rounds," the Spaniard told Eurosport.
"It's so difficult to play against him, his serve is probably one of the best on tour right now.
"He knows that he loves to play on grass, he likes to have fun, he likes to get the crowd involved. I think he's playing with less pressure.
"I feel like he's just playing to see what will happen, and he loves the conditions, he loves the surface. So I think if he's got a place in the draw where the seeds are ones that he can dictate and that he's the one dealing and dominating, he can be dangerous.
"In another moment, I feel like he was not probably ready, like when you see him in the Australian Open or US Open because the matches are longer, but at Wimbledon, they can be long, but he can make quick points.
"He can put pressure with the return as well, with the forehand, with the backhand flat. Well, I think Kyrgios is someone that you don't want to really see next to you in the draw."
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2022/06/28/3400112-69482408-2560-1440.jpg)
Nick Kyrgios at Wimbledon
Image credit: Getty Images
Corretja thinks the world No. 45 will need to maintain a high level of consistency if he is to reach the second week of SW19. Kyrgios has never gone beyond the quarter-final stage which he achieved in 2014.
"He needs to find his rhythm and having fun is great," Corretja said.
"But he needs to show that he's capable of playing seven matches, best-of-five, not only physically, mentally, to be consistent.
"Is he capable of doing that? Well at some point, this is the kind of player that you never know what can happen with him.
"If he's inspired by the feeling like he's playing well and the crowd might love the way he plays because he's an absolutely different kind of player, it can be so annoying for the opponent.
"Physically, If you would beat him, you would try to win the easiest you can in the first few rounds. And if you beat the opponents, you would like to see him struggling from the very first day so that when he gets to the fourth round or quarter-finals, he will be very tired or mentally already exhausted, because you need to think that maybe he was not too used to doing that.
"But grass is a little bit different, and from the matches he played the last few weeks, you can see that he is already getting the rhythm that he was missing during the clay-court season.
"So no doubt that Kyrgios is going to beat some of the guys - he is going to be such a dangerous guy to play."
- - -
Watch daily highlights from Wimbledon at 10pm on Eurosport 2 and discovery+ from June 27, as well as the two singles finals live on July 9 and 10.
Scan me
Related Topics
Share this article
/images.sports.gracenote.com/images/lib/basic/geo/country/flag/large/4058.png)
/images.sports.gracenote.com/images/lib/basic/geo/country/flag/large/2229.png)