Showman or bully?

NICK Kyrgios clearly thinks he is bigger than tennis.

He has admitted this week to throwing matches because his favourite basketball team, the Boston Celtics, lost a big game.

And last week he copped another fine – $10,000 – for spitting towards a spectator and calling a line judge a “snitch.”

If this were a first offence, we could forgive him, but this man has previous, plenty of previous.

Yes, he can entertain us with his tweenies and trick shots but it is the height of hypocrisy when he asks for some respect, yet refuses to give any back.

So let’s look at his previous and then make a call…

• In 2016 he openly complained about the music at the Australian Open, swore throughout the event and threw his jacket across court.

The same year Kyrgios was give a three-month ban and a $35,000 for refusing to try in a match. He refused to apologise, instead taking aim at the fans.

That same year he took a phone call on court during a doubles match!

• In 2017 he smashed two rackets on court in Paris in mental break down, demanding someone bring him a beer.
• In 2019 in Canada he demanded he was given a white towel, as opposed to a tournament-branded one, and turned it into a big public row.

We could forgive him for partying at the Dog & Fox Pub in Wimbledon until around 11pm the night before his second-round match with Rafael Nadal in 2019. Everyone’s young once!

• Again in 2019 Kyrgios was guilty of one of his worst meltdown’s to date, hurling a chair onto court at the Italian Open.

He was fined $30,000 after losing to Norway’s Casper Ruud and given a game penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Having hurled his racket to the ground he threw the chair onto the court and then went into an amazing rant: ‘I am giving 100 per cent to deal with f* idiots like him, I’m done. I’m f* done. I’m f*** done with it. I don’t give a f.’

He then walked off court.

He has constantly abused spectators, and fellow players, including actor Ben Stiller at Indian Wells earlier this year.

He was fined £98,904 for smashing two racquets and calling the chair umpire a ‘f**king tool at the Cincinnati Masters in 2019.

And yesterday … there is clearly no love between Kyrgios and Stefanos Tsitsipas – but the Greek came out swinging after their match:

“It’s constant bullying. He bullies his opponents. He was probably a bully in school, too… I don’t like bullies. He has a very evil side to him.”

Grand Slam Tennis overheard the row between Kyrgios and the umpire Anders Egli after Tsitsipas had hit a ball into the crowd.

“You are a disgrace,” Kyrgios shouted at the Egli. “You pick and choose who you want to penalise.”

Bully or showman? This is not tennis.

And there are plenty more incidents that bring into question his integrity towards the game that pays him handsomely.

As of June 2022, Kyrgios has an estimated net worth of $12 million.

Time to show some respect to the people who have made you very wealthy Nick.

That old phrase Pot Kettle Black comes to mind.

IT’S not just Kyrgios in trouble …

Alexander Ritschard was fined $5,000 for unsportsmanlike conduct during a first-round match in qualifying and seven other men have been penalised $3,000 each for either unsportsmanlike conduct or audible obscenity.

Five women have also been fined at this year’s event, the highest $4,000 to Daria Saville in the first round for racket or equipment abuse.

EMMA Raducanu is fast running out of excuses after another poor showing – this time at SW19, where she is adored.

Raducanu has come under fire for her Generation Z attitude – it’s not the winning but the competing – after crashing out to Caroline Garcia in straight sets.

And she has fired back at the so-called trolls who have criticised her performance.

Calls of “overrated” were quick to follow her loss, with some even going so far as to say she will never win anything ever again.

“One shot wonder,” said one Twitter user.

“There’s no pressure. Like, why is there any pressure? I’m still 19. Like, it’s a joke. I literally won a Slam,” Raducanu said.

Yes you did, Emma, but that was almost a year ago, and a year is a long, long time on the tennis circuit.

Advertising everything from cars to perfume to jewellery may look good now, but that money and adoration comes at a price – winning.

The bottom line is Raducanu desperately needs a coach to get her career back on track – and a coach with strength to stand up to her father Ian, who is believed to be the controlling influence in her life, chopping and changing the support team at will.

AFTER a poor couple of decades American men are beginning to to make their mark again at Wimbledon.

Brandon Nakashima’s victory over Denis Shapovalov on Thursday came after Taylor Fritz beat Alastair Gray.

There were eight American men in the third round, 25 per cent of the 32 players left in the field.

That’s the most for the USA at Wimbledon since 1995. And the most at any major since the 1996 US Open.

And the women?

Coco Gauff became the fourth US woman in the third round after her win, joining No. 8 seed Jessica Pegula, No. 20 Amanda Anisimova and Alison Riske-Amritraj.

UGO Humbert had Plenty of time to organise before his delayed Wimbledon match against Casper Ruud on Wednesday, but it still went wrong. He turned up at No.2 Court missing a vital piece of equipment — a racket.

Rain had delayed the match before the Frenchman had appeared on court with his a big red equipment bag. The 24-year-old then admitted: “I don’t have any rackets — sorry for that.”

Humbert’s embarrassment was soon over as someone appeared within a couple of minutes with three rackets.

And he still won, coming from behind to win the second-round match 3-6 6-2 7-5 6-4.

ALEJANDRO Davidovich Fokina made a bizarre exit from Wimbledon on Wednesday evening, copping a point penalty at a crucial moment during his clash with Jiri Vesely that saw him lose the match.

The surprising incident took place during the fifth-set match tie-break between the pair on Court 17.

Davidovich Fokina had hit a forehand into the net, in a fifth set tie-break which gave Vessely a 9-7 lead in the first-to-10 tie-breaker.

An angry Davidovich Fokina smashed a ball out of the stadium in frustration after one of the ball kids had thrown it to him.

Chair umpire Carlos Ramos wasn’t too happy and gave Davidovich Fokina a code violation for ball abuse.

As it was the Spaniard’s second violation in the match, he received a point penalty as well, and lost the match.

“That’s crazy… what a lousy way to end it,” commentator John McEnroe said.

BANKS of empty seats on Wimbledon’s Centre Court have been blamed on hospitality guests wining and dining rather than watching the tennis.

Fans unable to find tickets have complained about the large number of empty seats at key matches.

And one ticket-holder said that the best part of having a hospitality ticket was the ability to “drop in and drop out of the tennis”.

Local fan Killy Cavendish said: “I am fed up. I don’t like seeing empty seats at all, when people are stuck outside queueing. The main thing I want to see is them release some Centre Court tickets.”

And another, Max Smith added: “Hate it. It does leave a bad taste when you see all those empty seats reserved for corporates. Screw the corporate types, they should just go to a fancy restaurant instead. Wimbledon needs to do more to make it seem like it’s not elitist.”

SO Serena Williams is unclear where next after losing her first round match at Wimbledon, going down 7-5 1-6 7-6 (10-7 to Frenchwoman Harmony Tan.

Wimbledon officials fell over themselves to assist her entry – and it cost a local British girl a place a wild card.

Williams will be 41 in September – and as much as we have enjoyed her stunning g displays over the past 20 or so years, someone needs to whisper in her ear that it’s time to concentrate on her millionaire lifestyle in Florida.

The last waltz? Over to you Venus.

UKRAINE’S Anhelina Kalinina will use her prize money from Wimbledon to help rebuild her parents’ home after it was bombed during the Russian invasion.

Kalinina said her parents are now staying at her apartment while the rebuilding work was taking place at their home near the capital Kyiv.

“Their house was attacked. There are huge holes in the house. There are no apartments anymore,” Kalinina said.

“So now this home is getting rebuilt, so they can’t live there. They live in my apartment where I’m living with my husband.

“Now they are at home safe, they have everything. I’m grateful that they have the opportunities to live, and I am playing tennis.”

Wimbledon banned players from Russia and Belarus from playing at this year’s tournament following the invasion.

After beating Anna Bondar 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 in the first round Kalinina lost to compatriot Lesia Tsurenko – a $97,000 cheque as a second round loser is on its way.

Our WTF moment …

WIMBLEDON locals not into the tennis hate this time of year. Apparently the southwest London suburb gets swamped with drunken, sexed up fans every June and July.

It’s so bad fed up locals have put up signs warning fans they will not tolerate drugs, drunks or sex parties in nearby woods.

The signs read: ‘Game, Sex, and Match. NO THANKS! Visiting tennis fans please respect our park and woodland.

“Anti-social behaviour such as drugs, booze and sex parties will not be tolerated. Police patrol this area regularly and you have been warned,” the signs state.

“Thanks for your consideration. Enjoy the tennis”.

Sunday Serve understands the move has backfired with the signs being torn down.

“I’ve seen couples having sex, drugs parties, everything really,” one local told media.

“We’ve put notices up in the past, but they just get ripped down.”

AND finally …

This image appeared on social media during the week of Richard Williams with daughter Venus practising at Wimbledon. It hasn’t surfaced in any other media outlets, so we’re not sure if he was there or not.