Frenemies Nick Kyrgios and Stefanos Tsitsipas gave us a wild Wimbledon showdown complete with body blows and trash talk.
Looks like this rivalry won't be simmering down soon.
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Wimbledon finalist Kyrgios stunned his teammates withdrawing from the inaugural United Cup the day before he was schedule to play for Team Australia in Sydney. Kyrgios was slated to potentially face both Spanish superstar Rafael Nadal and British No. 1 Cameron Norrie in round-robin play of the mixed team event.
Instead, Kyrgios pulled out. Davis Cup stalwart Alex de Minaur is slated to play men's singles for Australia in the mixed-team event.
"We literally just found out 10 minutes ago," Samantha Stosur, who co-captains Team Australia with Lleyton Hewitt, told the Australian media of Kyrgios' departure in comments published by AAP.
Kyrgios' sudden withdrawal did not surprise sparring partner Tsitsipas, who offered blunt response when asked his reaction at a United Cup press conference.
“It is not a surprise, I hope he enjoys his holidays,” Tsitsipas told the media.
The fourth-ranked Greek said Kyrgios' antics are a distraction.
“I don’t know where all of [Kyrgios'] energy comes from,” Tsitsipas told the Australian media. “There is so much of it, I don’t know how he does it.
“You cannot concentrate on your own game, there is so much noise coming from the other side of the net. It’s distracting, you have to be at your best to overcome it all.”
The mercurial Kyrgios, who returned to Australia after playing a Middle East exhibition, incurred Tsitsipas' wrath at Wimbledon with persistent chatter and discussions with officials.
Kyrgios rode his massive serve and major mind games to topple fourth-seeded Tsitsipas 6-7(2), 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(7) in a wild, crazy and contentious clash at Wimbledon last summer.
Both men were hit with code violations as Court No. 1 felt like the octagon at times. Tsitsipas summed up this tennis tempest of sound and flurry as "a circus."
The match saw Kyrgios deploy the underarm tweener serve, some superb drop shots and near constant chatter that unnerved Tsitsipas. The Greek, who belted a ball into the stands and splattered another shot off the back wall, spent a few games trying to tag Kyrgios and eventually accomplished his mission drilling the Aussie in the chest.
Photo credit: Getty