‘Get new people!’ – Nick Kyrgios doubles down but explains ‘mad respect’ for opponent
Nick Kyrgios has made clear that he holds strong feelings against chair umpire Carlos Bernardes and not the man who beat him in the last 16, Jannik Sinner.
The match saw Kyrgios complain about court conditions, hurl expletives at the chair umpire, smash his racket, be docked a game and come within a code violation of a default.
Eventually Sinner downed the Australian 7-6 (7-3), 6-3, but Kyrgios was not done feuding with Bernardes.
After reportedly calling the umpire the R-word slur at the end of the match, Kyrgios took to social media to further criticise Bernardes.
The tweet ended: “Get new people!”
Later, Kyrgios tweeted again, saying: “Don’t get it twisted, I got made respect for Jannik Sinner.
“He is one of my favourite players and he was too good.
“I am aiming all of this at an umpire who clearly isn’t good enough to be doing these matches.”
‘You could do the job of the umpire’ – what was said to my best friend that got me ‘unsportsmanlike code violation’ at 5-3 in the first set tie break. With 100 of thousands of dollars on the line that was the decision he made because the umpires ‘feelings got hurt. GET NEW PEOPLE
— Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) March 29, 2022
Don’t get it twisted. I got mad respect for @janniksin ⚡️⚡️ he is one of my favourite players and he was TOO GOOD. I am aiming all of this at an umpire who clearly ISNT GOOD ENOUGH to be doing these matches. Nothing but a slap on the wrist for him right? What a joke.
— Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) March 30, 2022
The biggest inciting incident came when Bernardes’ radio loudly went off in the middle of a point, forcing a let and a replayed point.
From there Kyrgios collapsed and could not regather his composure.
And yes, while the point at which Kyrgios received a code violation for unsportsmanlike conduct may have been a light example, it was not an isolated incident as Kyrgios had verbally demeaned Bernardes on multiple occasions before and did so after that moment.
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