After leaving the tournament in Stuttgart, the Australian tennis pro explained his behavior in Saturday’s game against Andy Murray by saying that he was racially insulted by spectators. He vented his anger on Instagram.
Nick Kyrgios is known for his scandalous performances. Also on Saturday in the semi-finals of the ATP tournament there was excitement again when the Australian played against two-time Wimbledon winner Andy Murray. Now Kyrgios has commented on this – and justified his freak out by saying that he had been racially insulted.
Kyrgios wrote on Instagram that viewers had shouted comments from the ranks such as “You little black sheep, shut up and play”.
“One thing I will never tolerate is spectators berating and berating athletes. It’s been happening to me personally for a while, from racist comments to outright disrespect,” the 27-year-old wrote on Instagram. “For years I pushed it aside, but especially in Indian Wells and today in Stuttgart, I’ve noticed that people seem to think it’s normal.”
After a balanced first set, the tie-break ended ugly. At the last rally, Kyrgios bounced the ball because of a mistake and the Australian smashed his racquet. For this he was penalized with a point deduction. At the beginning of the second round, Kyrgios then messed with the crowd and was deducted to make it 0-2. After that, the match was about to be abandoned because the Australian didn’t want to get used to the course of the game, talked to himself and complained. He played the game listlessly to the end and was whistled goodbye by the audience.
“When will this finally stop?” asks the Australian. “I understand that my behavior is not always the best, but such comments are unacceptable. If I say something back to the audience, I will be punished. That’s screwed up.”
