'She's drunk out of her mind!' - Nick Kyrgios demands fan be kicked out after '700 drinks' in Wimbledon final
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Updated 10/07/2022 at 19:25 GMT
“You didn’t believe me!" Nick Kyrgios yelled at the umpire in an explosive rant after he felt he was distracted by a fan during a crucial service game. "It shouldn’t be coming down to your opinion, she is distracting me when I’m serving in a Wimbledon final. Why is she still here? She is drunk out of her mind in the first row speaking in the middle of the game, what is acceptable?"
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Nick Kyrgios demanded that a fan be kicked out during the Wimbledon final with Novak Djokovic after they yelled out before one of his serves in the third set.
Serving at a very important moment near the start of the third set in his eventual defeat after having lost the second, Kyrgios let rip at the umpire after he felt he was repeatedly distracted before serving by a fan.
Kyrgios even pointed out the spectator, who he claimed was in the front row and inebriated. The umpire gave him a code violation for his persistent yelling and foul language as a result of the tantrum.
It all came at a critical moment in the match with the scores level. Kyrgios had raced into a one-set lead before Djokovic, as is so often the case, roared straight back after making a sluggish start.
“You didn’t believe me!" Kyrgios yelled at the umpire. "It shouldn’t be coming down to your opinion, she is distracting me when I’m serving in a Wimbledon final.
"There is no bigger occasion, you didn’t believe me and she did it again, and it nearly cost me the game. Why is she still here? She is drunk out of her mind in the first row speaking in the middle of the game! What is acceptable?"
After being told "nothing is acceptable", he fired back: “Okay then kick her out. I know exactly who it is. It’s the one in the dress, it looks like she has had about 700 drinks, bro. Talking to me in the middle of the point and you just go [shrugs shoulders].”
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Earlier in the final, the unpredictable Australian, who is unseeded at the All England Club, took just minutes to delight the fans with an underarm serve, which may well have been the first during a Wimbledon singles final.
Despite how successful the tactic often is, on this occasion, Djokovic was very much ready and waiting and had no trouble at all pouncing to punish it. Thankfully for Kyrgios, he was 40-0 up on serve when he attempted the underarm delivery and he managed to hold from 40-30 without the game having to go to deuce.
Tim Henman was less than impressed with the tactic - which he says is normally totally legitimate - given Djokovic was not standing very far back behind the baseline and the speed of the grass courts at SW19.
“Is that the first underarm serve in a Wimbledon final?” Henman wondered on commentary for the BBC. “I love the way Kyrgios has started.
"There is a bit of chat around the underarm serve, whether it's disrespectful, but it’s nothing of the sort, it’s a legitimate tactic. But I think on a grass court it’s an appalling tactic. You are inviting someone to come to the net and attack you, so whether we see it again or not...”
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Todd Woodbridge added: "It’s a rhythm-breaker, but you can see the issue with the underarm serve is that Novak wasn’t that deep when returning.
"So he got up to this quite early, then he is in the box seat really. But 40-0, he has brought the show early on. It depends on the returner's position. [Rafael] Nadal would be another four metres deeper than where Novak has started today.”
Djokovic eventually fended off a typically feisty Nick Kyrgios in the final, 4-6 6-3 6-4 7-6(3), to claim his seventh Wimbledon crown and 21st Grand Slam title.
In an explosive, heated and tense battle, Djokovic simply had too much for Kyrgios when it really mattered, and after a very challenging year so far, the Serb was able to add yet another Wimbledon title to his collection, moving one behind Roger Federer, and close the gap to one Grand Slam behind his other great rival, Rafael Nadal.
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