"I don't care what people think of Nick Kyrgios, disliking him doesn't make what he experienced okay" - Tennis fans react to Australian being subjected to racial abuse during Stuttgart Open loss

Nick Kyrgios succumbed to an unexpected loss against Andy Murray at the 2022 Stuttgart Open, falling 7-6(5), 6-2 to him in the semifinals. The Australian was looking good at the start of the match, but came apart at the seams after losing the first set in a tight tie-break.

The 27-year-old took out his frustrations with a huge racquet smash, leading to a point penalty. Murray went on to break his serve soon after, prompting further unsportsmanlike conduct from the former World No. 13, which resulted in a game penalty being awarded to the Australian.

Following the loss, Kyrgios took to Instagram to reveal that he was racially abused by the crowd, pointing to it as the main reason why he lost his cool during the encounter. Although he admitted that he could have dealt with it better, the mercurial 27-year-old was of the opinion that such abuse was not at all acceptable.

Tennis fans, who had taken to social media earlier to criticize Kyrgios for his actions during the match, also extended their sympathy to him in light of the recent revelation.

As much as they conceded that the Australian deserved to be condemned for his on-court antics, they did not think it was fair to subject him to such discrimination. Some Twitter users still blamed Kyrgios, stating that he should learn to take more responsibility for himself instead of always blaming others for his actions.

A few other fans did not agree with the racial abuse angle at all, remarking that the phrase the Australian mentioned - "black sheep" - had no racist connotations and that Nick Kyrgios had simply misunderstood what they were yelling at him.

"Cool to see we're still tone policing people's responses to racism," one fan sarcastically wrote. "I don't care what people think of Nick Kyrgios, disliking him doesn't make what he experienced okay."

"Man that's messed up. There needs to be more accountability for things like this. Players can't be expected to stay calm and not react when they're being racially abused and the people in charge of the tournaments do nothing!" another user posted.

"This just in: Nick Krygios blames everyone but himself for his tennis etiquette. You didn’t hear anything but you losing the tie break and you melted down," one account tweeted.

"Of course it is. Just because it contains black doesn't mean it's racial. Meaning was [Nick Kyrgios] is outcast of tennis, nothing to do with race. Unless someone wanted to use it as double meaning but I doubt it," another fan wrote.

Nick Kyrgios will play in the Halle Open before he goes on to the Wimbledon Championships

Nick Kyrgios takes on Daniel Altmaier in his opener at the 2022 Halle Open

Following his loss at the hands of Andy Murray at the Stuttgart Open, Nick Kyrgios will turn his attention next to the Halle Open before moving on to Wimbledon at the end of the month. The Australian is slated to take on Daniel Altmaier in the first round, their first ever meeting on the ATP tour.

A win against the German would pit the 27-year-old against either second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas or Benjamin Bonzi in the second round. A potential meeting with fourth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime awaits Kyrgios in the semifinals, while he could likely take on top seed Daniil Medvedev in the final if he gets that far.