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Australia's Nick Kyrgios reacts after winning his Men's Singles third-round match against Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas. Alamy Stock Photo
Chaos

Incredible scenes as Kyrgios wins bad-tempered Wimbledon clash with Tsitsipas

Earlier, Iga Swiatek’s remarkable 37-match winning streak came to an end.

Updated at 21.58

NICK KYRGIOS came from behind to win a stormy encounter against Stefanos Tsitsipas at Wimbledon on Saturday after calling for his opponent to be kicked out for hitting a ball into the crowd.

The mercurial Australian prevailed 6-7 (2/7), 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (9/7) in a third-round match during which both players were warned by the umpire.

After sealing his victory in a gripping fourth-set tie-break, Kyrgios said: “The media loves to write that I’m bad to the sport, but I’m clearly not.

“Whatever happens on court, stays on the court. I’m very close to his brothers.

“I felt like I was the favourite. I beat him a few weeks ago and he’s only beaten me once. He got frustrated, it’s a frustrating sport. Whatever happens, I love him.”

There was little hint of the drama to come when Greek fourth seed Tsitsipas took the first set after a tie-break.

But the match descended into mayhem when a frustrated Tsitsipas hit the ball into the crowd after losing the second set, for which he received a warning.

Kyrgios said Tsitsipas should be kicked out of Wimbledon, recalling the incident at the US Open in 2020 when Novak Djokovic was defaulted from the tournament after hitting a line judge with a ball.

In astonishing scenes, the Australian called the umpire a “disgrace”, demanding to speak to supervisors and saying he would not continue until the situation was resolved.

“You can’t hit a ball into the crowd and hit someone and not get defaulted,” he said.

At that point, Tsitsipas left the court but returned to boos in an increasingly volatile atmosphere on Court One.

The Australian, who was given an obscenity warning, continued to argue with the umpire at changeovers, saying, in reference to the incident: “If that’s a little girl, she cries, what happens?”

Kyrgios, now on top against a clearly rattled Tsitsipas, broke in the fourth game of the third set and held on to take a 2-1 lead.

Tsitsipas was given another code violation and a point deduction for hitting the ball in frustration towards the back of the court after a Kyrgios underarm serve.

The fourth seed then fell 0-40 on his serve at the beginning of the fourth set only to recover and win the game.

Tsitsipas saved more break points in the seventh game and appeared to be on the brink of a crucial break in the following game but Kyrgios served his way out of trouble to level at 4-4.

Play was then suspended for the roof to be closed.

The fourth set went to a nervy tie-break.

Tsitsipas had set points to draw level in the match but it was Kyrgios who came out on top, taking it 9-7.

Earlier, Iga Swiatek was dumped out of Wimbledon in straight sets on Saturday by French veteran Alize Cornet, ending the world number one’s 37-match winning streak.

Cornet, ranked 37, took advantage of an error-strewn performance from her Polish opponent to win 6-4, 6-2 on Court 1 in their third-round tie.

The top seed was on the back foot right from the start of the match, broken in her first two service games, and could not get back on level terms.

The 20-year-old broke at her first opportunity in the second set but Cornet broke back immediately, repeating the feat twice more as Swiatek’s game fell apart.

Swiatek made a total of 33 unforced errors in an uncharacteristically sloppy display.

She had not lost a match since her defeat to Jelena Ostapenko in February at Dubai, winning her past six tournaments, including the French Open.

Cornet is contesting her 62nd consecutive Slam, matching Ai Sugiyama’s record.

In reaching the fourth round, the French player matches her run at Wimbledon in 2014, when she beat Serena Williams in the third round.

“It reminds me of the time I beat Serena Williams on the same court eight years ago,” she said.

Wimbledon results on Saturday on the sixth day of the 2022 championships at the All England Club (x denotes seeded player):

Men

3rd rd

Christian Garín (CHI) bt Jenson Brooksby (USA x29) 6-2, 6-3, 1-6, 6-4

Alex De Minaur (AUS x19) bt Liam Broady (GBR) 6-3, 6-4, 7-5

Brandon Nakashima (USA) bt Daniel Galan (COL) 6-4, 6-4, 6-1

Nick Kyrgios (AUS) bt Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE x4) 6-7 (2/7), 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (9/7)

Jason Kubler (AUS) bt Jack Sock (USA) 6-2, 4-6, 5-7, 7-6 (7/4), 6-3

Taylor Fritz (USA x11) bt Alex Molcan (SVK) 6-4, 6-1, 7-6 (7/3)

Botic van de Zandschulp (NED x21) bt Richard Gasquet (FRA) 7-5, 2-6, 7-6 (9/7), 6-1

Rafael Nadal (ESP x2) bt Lorenzo Sonego (ITA x27) 6-1, 6-2, 6-4

Women

3rd rd

Alize Cornet (FRA) bt Iga Swiatek (POL x1) 6-4, 6-2

Ajla Tomljanovic (AUS) bt Barbora Krejcikova (CZE x13) 2-6, 6-4, 6-3

Elena Rybakina (KAZ x17) bt Zheng Qinwen (CHN) 7-6 (7/4), 7-5

Petra Martic (CRO) bt Jessica Pegula (USA x8) 6-2, 7-6 (7/5)

Paula Badosa (ESP x4) bt Petra Kvitova (CZE x25) 7-5, 7-6 (7/4)

Simona Halep (ROM x16) bt Magdalena Frech (POL) 6-4, 6-1

Amanda Anisimova (USA x20) bt Coco Gauff (USA x11) 6-7 (4/7), 6-2, 6-1

Harmony Tan (FRA) bt Katie Boulter (GBR) 6-1, 6-1

– © AFP 2022

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