Nick Kyrgios ‘corrupt’ rage punishment plus Stefanos Tsitsipas ‘weirdos’

Nick Kyrgios corrupt comment brings punishment 2019 images

Nick Kyrgios continues sparking controversy this year, and his latest “corrupt” comment could really place him in hot water with the ATP. His antics have been turning off fans recently, so we’ll see if he remembers what made him a tennis star to begin with; playing good tennis.

Nick Kyrgios Corrupt Comment

The tennis organization is considering whether to punish Nick Kyrgios for a “major offense” after he called the men’s tennis tour “corrupt” because it fined him more than $100,000 for his behavior during a match last month.

A tour spokesman issued a statement Wednesday saying that Gayle Bradshaw, the ATP’s executive vice president for rules and competition, would determine what to do about Kyrgios’ comments made at the U.S. Open.

The 2019 ATP Rule Book says a “major offense” may be punished by a fine of up to the amount of prize money won at a tournament and a suspension of up to a year.

About a half-hour after the tour’s statement, Kyrgios sent out a Tweet in an effort “to clarify my comment around the ATP being corrupt,” saying “it was not the correct choice of words” and explaining the “intention was to address what I see as double standards rather than corruption.”

Speaking to a small group of reporters after his straight-set victory over Steve Johnson in the first round at Flushing Meadows ended after 1 a.m. on Wednesday, Kyrgios was asked about whether the recent fine affected him mentally as the year’s last Grand Slam tournament began.

“Not at all. ATP’s pretty corrupt, anyway, so I’m not fussed about it at all,” Kyrgios said.

It is the latest in a long list of clashes with tennis authorities for the 24-year-old Australian, who is seeded 28th at the U.S. Open.

He was defaulted from a match at the Italian Open in May after throwing a chair during a match and was suspended by the ATP in 2016 for not trying to win and insulting fans during the Shanghai Masters.

At the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati this month, Kyrgios insulted a chair umpire and left the court to smash two rackets during a second-round loss. The next day, the ATP listed a breakdown of eight fines ranging from $3,000 to $20,000 each, for violations such as unsportsmanlike conduct, verbal abuse and audible obscenity, with the total penalty reaching $113,000.

In the wee hours of Wednesday, when a follow-up question was asked about his “corrupt” comment, Kyrgios said: “Why are we talking about something that happened three weeks ago, when I just chopped up someone (in the) first round of U.S. Open?”

More than 10 hours later, in his tweet, Kyrgios wrote: “I know my behavior at times has been controversial and that has landed me in trouble, which at times is granted and valid but my issue is around others … doing the same or similar behavior and not being sanctioned.”

He added: “To be clear I know I’m not perfect and do not pretend to be and I acknowledge I’ve deserved fines and sanctioning at times but I expect consistency and fairness with this across the board (and) to date that’s not happened.”

Stefanos Tsitsipas accuses tennis officials being weirdos 2019 images

Stefanos Tsitsipas Weirdos

Stefanos Tsitsipas accused a U.S. Open chair umpire of having a bias against him during a tirade in which he told the official, “You’re all weirdos!”

Tsitsipas told Damien Dumusois that the cause of his bias was “because you’re French probably and you’re all weirdos!”

The argument came midway through the fourth set of Tsitsipas’ 6-4, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (7), 7-5 loss to Andrey Rublev on Tuesday, a day when he and fellow young star Dominic Thiem both lost in the first round for the second straight major tournament.

Tsitsipas, the No. 8 seed from Greece, appeared to be battling cramps and was slow to return to the court after losing his serve.

Dumusois told Tsitsipas it was time to play, but Tsitsipas was still reaching into his bag for a new headband and screamed at Dumusois that he still needed time to change. Dumusois responded that Tsitsipas would be penalized.

“I don’t care,” Tsitsipas replied. “Do whatever you want, because you’re the worst.”

“I don’t know what you have against me,” Tsitsipas continued. “Because you’re French probably and you’re all weirdos! You’re all weirdos!”

Dumusois is indeed French.

Tsitsipas had been angry that Dumusois believed he was getting coaching during the match from his father, Apostolos, which is not allowed.

“The chair umpire was very incorrect in what he was telling me during the match,” Tsitsipas said afterward. “I don’t know what this chair umpire has in specific against my team, but he’s been complaining and telling me that my team talks all of the time when I’m out on the court playing. He’s very — I don’t know. I believe he’s not right, because I never hear anything of what my team says from the outside.”

Tsitsipas added that he thought tennis needed more umpires who are fair to all players.

“I feel like some of them have preferences when they are on the court,” he said.

Tsitsipas opened his Grand Slam season by beating Roger Federer en route to the Australian Open semifinals. He fell at Wimbledon to Thomas Fabbiano, who then sent Thiem to another quick exit by beating the No. 4 seed 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 on a day when four top-10 seeds in the bottom half of the bracket were upset.

The two-time French Open runner-up said he was battling an illness leading into the tournament and said he was exhausted after two sets.

“I’m far away from 100%,” Thiem said. “Like this, it’s very tough to win.”

Tsitsipas was clear that his problems stemmed from the influence of Dumusois.

“Well, it’s not very pleasant when you have the umpire give you warnings and time violations and coaching violations during a match,” Tsitsipas said. “It can affect your thinking. It can affect your decision-making.”