NAUGHTY NICK

Controversy follows tennis hothead Nick Kyrgios everywhere he goes – and this year’s Wimbledon has been no exception

- MAXINE PETERS

THERE are plenty of sports where aggressive actions and bad-tempered behaviour are part of what most spectators look forward to.

Wrestling and mixed martial arts, definitely. American football and ice hockey, maybe. Boxing and rugby – perhaps a bit of a stretch. But tennis? Unlikely to ever be on such a list.

Yet Australian player Nick Kyrgios doesn’t seem to have received that particular memo and is doing his utmost to live up to the “bad boy” reputation he’s cultivated over the years.

His recent performance at Wimbledon raised many an eyebrow and received public censure from several quarters.

Greek player Stefanos Tsitsipas said Kyrgios has “a very evil side” after they played a particularly mean-spirited match, in which Kyrgios called his opponent “dumb” and “a disgrace”.

“It’s constant bullying – that’s what he does,” Stefanos (23) added. “He bullies opponents. He was probably a bully at school.”

Many have called for stronger action against Kyrgios’ aggressive behaviour.

“Kyrgios should’ve been defaulted,” former British tennis ace John Lloyd reckons.

“It became almost impossible for Stefanos Tsitsipas to play. Kyrgios was basically trying to disrupt his opponent’s game.”

Yet the 27-year-old is anything but apologetic – apoplectic is likely a more natural state for him.

During his first match at this year’s Wimbledon, against Britain’s Paul Jubb, he called one line judge “a snitch with no fans” because he didn’t agree with her call, and then suggested another was in his nineties and “can’t see the ball”.