‘Kyrgios is annoying, but Tsitsipas was to blame’ for Wimbledon spat says Nadal

Toni Nadal has sided with Nick Kyrgios in his spat with Stefanos Tsitsipas, despite him being ‘annoying’ and prone to ‘driving players out of their mind.’

Kyrgios and Tsitsipas had a spicy clash in the round of 16 at Wimbledon, with both players believing the other should have been defaulted.

Both were ultimately fined for their actions too, with Kyrgios punished for obscenities and Tistipas for ball abuse after he hit a spare ball into the crowd.

Afterwards, Tsitsipas called Kyrgios ‘an evil bully,’ but Toni Nadal believes he only has himself to blame.

“On some occasions, I have been critical of the Australian as a result of his rudeness, his unsportsmanlike attitudes, his recurrent outbursts or his unfortunate comments,” he told Spanish website Noticiero.lat.

“On this occasion, however, I think the blunder on the court is attributable to the Greek.

“It is true that Kyrgios is too annoying, provocative and that he can easily drive his opponents out of their mind.

“However, I was greatly surprised Tsitsipas couldn’t deal with those situations.

“It is clear that Tsitsipas acted to his own detriment, lacking in the habit of dealing with those situations in which a player feels somewhat ridiculous and unable to control his emotions and his nervousness.”

Nick Kyrgios has since put the spat behind him, and he beat Brendon Nakashima on Monday to move into the Wimbledon quarterfinals.

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