Stefanos Tsitsipas says he and Nick Kyrgios have smoothed things out following their 2022 Wimbledon feud but the Greek adds that he was dealing "with the worst sort of behavior on the other side" when he met the Australian two years ago.
Exactly two years ago, Tsitsipas - now ranked at No. 11 in the world - stumbled upon Kyrgios early at The Championships after the two met in the third round. When the match started, the Greek won a tight opener before the Australian came back to win in four sets 6-7 (2) 6-4 6-3 7-6 (7).
Throughout the match, Tsitsipas felt that Kyrgios was doing little sneaky things to throw him off his game. And if Kyrgios' intention was to play mind games, he succeeded in those plans since Tsitsipas was evidently annoyed and irked by the Australian, which led to the Greek even attempting to hit him with the ball.
After getting bounced by Kyrgios, Tsitsipas didn't hide his frustration as he ripped the Australian as "a bully."
Its constant bullying, thats what he does. He bullies the opponents. He was probably a bully at school himself. I dont like bullies. I dont like people that put other people down. He has some good traits in his character, as well. But he also has a very evil side to him," Tsitsipas said of Kyrgios after the match.
When told about Tsitsipas' comment, Kyrgios bluntly responded by saying that the Greek tennis player was not really liked in the locker room and that he didn't have many friends in the tennis world.
How Tsitsipas feels about the entire situation now?
The week before 2022 Wimbledon, Tsitsipas won his first grass title in Mallorca, and after also winning his first two matches at The Championships, he entered the Kyrgios clash on a six-match winning streak.
But because he was a little bit sick and Kyrgios' behavior was extremely annoying him that day, Tsitsipas ended up feeling "really terrible" before crashing out of Wimbledon.
"Look, for me that year was an important one. I felt like my tennis was great during that grass court swing. If you check my results I might not have delivered in Halle two weeks before but I won my first grass court tournament in Mallorca and I was feeling great with my game," Tsitsipas told Express-Sport.
I had a great win in the second round against Jordan Thompson, I feel like hes one of the good guys to beat on grass. And then I entered that match with Kyrgios with a lot of expectations that I can really do damage today and I can perhaps even win that match.
And those things occurred during the match, they threw me off a little bit. It was, lets say, the best moment of my career with the worst sort of behaviour on the other side which made me feel terrible," Kyrgios added.
I was also feeling a little bit sick during those three days that I was at Wimbledon, I started feeling not that great so that contributed to the behaviour and the reaction that I showed on the court, I was really feeling terrible.
But why Tsitsipas doesn't have regrets about the Kyrgios incident now?
Tsitsipas, who is now 25, says he actually has no regrets about the entire Kyrgios incident because that match showed him what he can never again allow himself to happen to him on the court.
Looking back into it, I dont regret anything. I think that taught me a lot of things on how not to behave on court and how not to allow myself to get, lets say, torn apart. Especially when the opponent is trying to impose that during a match. It taught me that I should never take things seriously and I should just focus on myself," Tsitsipas explained.
Meanwhile, Tsitsipas is set for a double duty at this year's Wimbledon because is set to play both singles and men's doubles.
When it comes to singles, Tsitsipas learned on Friday that he would be taking on world No. 83 Taro Daniel in his opening match. Against Daniel, Tsitsipas has a 1-0 record but their first and lone meeting came in 2018 in Tokyo. However, the Greek undoubtedly enters their match as the big favorite.
In doubles, Tsitsipas will play with his brother Petros and they will start against Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni.
For Tsitsipas, the main goal will be making a strong run in the singles event. So far, Tsitsipas' best Wimbledon results have only been the round-of-16 showings in 2018 and 2023.
