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The number of people criticising Nick Kyrgios over his outburst at the Rogers Cup in Montreal is increasing by the day and the most recent inclusion to this is, the most relevant person surrounding the controversy – Donna Vekic. The 19-year-old tennis player was at the centre of Kyrgios’ outburst at Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka.
“(Thanasi) Kokkinakis banged your girlfriend. Sorry to tell you that, mate,” is what Kyrgios was recorded as saying to Wawrinka in an unsportsmanlike attempt at sledging.
The teenaged Croatian expressed her disappointment at Kyrgios’ statement, and confirming that she is yet to talk to the Australian about the incident. She said that her only focus remains on tennis and hoped that a similar situation is avoided in the future.
“It's not easy, but I'm trying to focus on tennis and my next match. I haven't spoken to Kyrgios. But, it's a very disappointing thing to be happening in our sport and I hope it won't happen again because it's not a very good image for our sport,” the Telegraph reported her as saying.
She also said she hoped that Kyrgios has learned from the unfortunate incident and the furore surrounding it.
When asked about the incident, Kyrgios said that there were no thoughts behind his statements and admitted that he got caught up in the moment.
“You know, I thought ah, you know, he was getting a bit lippy at me, so I don't know, it's just in the moment sort of stuff. But yeah, I don't really know. I just said it,” Kyrgios said in an on-court interview after the match.
Wawrinka hoping for major action against Kyrgios
Thanasi Kokkinakis is Kyrgios’ Davis Cup teammate and close friend, but he was also left shaking his head at his behaviour. He admitted that what his fellow Australian did was unacceptable and revealed that Kyrgios has apologised to him since.
“He apologised to me. I let him know, I made it pretty clear that he can’t be doing that. If he’s got a problem, he’s got to say it in private,” Kokkinakis said. “The way he went about it definitely wasn’t the right thing.”
Nick Kyrgios has been fined £4,700 for his behaviour on court and has, since, apologised. The match between Wawrinka and Kyrgios saw the ‘outspoken’ Australian emerge victorious in the second round after the Swiss retired in the third set. However, Kyrgios tasted defeat against American John Isner 5-7, 6-3 in just 56 minutes in the very next round.
The man at who the barbaric rant was directed, Stanislas Wawrinka demanded that major action be taken against Kyrgios citing the fact that he easily oversteps boundaries on numerous occasions.
“There are things, regardless of how you are, regardless of the stress you have on the court, there are things you just can't say. Every match he has problems. Every match he behaves very badly. I really hope the ATP will take major action against him this time,” said Wawrinka.
