Kyrgios Curses Umpire in Wimbledon Doubles Defeat

Richard Pagliaro | Wednesday, July 1, 2026
Photo credit: Glyn Kirk/AFP/Getty

WimbledonNick Kyrgios talked himself into trouble in his Wimbledon return.

The 2022 Wimbledon singles finalist Kyrgios cursed out a chair umpire during an opening-round doubles defeat at The Championships today.

Partnering fellow explosive shotmaker Alexander Bublik, Kyrgios dropped serve at the start of the second set then unloaded on chair umpire Manuel Absolu during the ensuing changeover.

“Honestly, at this point you can fine me, I honestly don’t even care,” Kyrgios told the chair umpire. “Honestly you can fine me. I don’t give a sh*t.

“All these rules are so dumb anyway.”

It all went down as sixth seeds Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic swept Bublik and Kyrgios 6-3, 6-4 in a 55-minute win on No. 17 Court before a full house.

The Good Trouble podcast host Kyrgios continues to conjure problems at SW19.

During his inspired run to the 2022 Wimbledon singles final, Kyrgios not only got into it with opponent Stefanos Tsitsipas, who tried to drill the Aussie at one point, he also incurred three separate fines during the fortnight. Kyrgios fined twice for swearing and once for spitting during that 2022 run.

This time around, Kyrgios kept the spit to himself, but brough the sh*t to the chair umpire and will likely face a fine as well.

Richard Pagliaro is Tennis Now Managing Editor. He is a graduate of New York University and has covered pro tennis for more than 35 years. Richard was tennis columnist for Gannett Newspapers in NY, served as Managing Editor for TennisWeek.com and worked as a writer/editor for Tennis.com. He has been TennisNow.com managing editor since 2010.

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