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News of Nick Kyrgios and Stefanos Tsitsipas partnering with each other for the doubles contest at the Diriyah Tennis Cup has triggered a series of jokes and predictions on social media ahead of their first match.
The second edition of the exhibition event is being held at the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Diriyah, located outside the capital city of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Top seed Tsitsipas received a bye in the first round and waited in the quarterfinals for the winner of the match between Great Britain's Cameron Norrie and Kyrgios.
Norrie beat the 22nd-ranked Australian 10-6, 10-6 in a best-of-three tie-break to set up a meeting with the World No. 4 from Greece. The British player knocked Tsitsipas out of the singles competition with a 6-4, 6-4 victory and reached the semifinals.
After all the singles matches ended on Thursday, the organizers drafted four doubles teams with the eight players who were eliminated. Fans went through a string of emotions upon learning that Stefanos Tsitsipas and Nick Kyrgios were paired alongside each other. When the two players faced each other at Wimbledon this year, the 27-year-old Aussie prevailed in four sets. However, the match witnessed a number of controversies and heated moments between the players.
The duo will take on Hubert Hurkacz and Dominic Stricker on Friday to fight for a spot in the final. From hilarious scenarios to sarcasm, fans made the most of the awkward situation.
"The way I need them to partner up in a proper tournament so we witness Kyrgios having to deal with the Tsitsipas family on his side," a fan tweeted.
"Please have mics on them. That would be entertaining. 2 total manchildren," a user wrote.
"Yeah I am sure these two together will be very friendly and peaceful, after all these two are two of most mature and level headed people on the tour," another tweet read.
Here are a few more reactions:
Nick Kyrgios and Stefanos Tsitspas' Wimbledon clash
In the third round of the 2022 Wimbledon Championships, Nick Kyrgios beat Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-7(2), 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(7). A match where both players were fined for their on-court behavior, witnessed the Australian demanding the removal of a line judge and asking for his opponent to be defaulted after Tsitsipas hit a ball in the crowd out of frustration.
In another instance, the Greek hit a fiery forehand deliberately in Kyrgios' direction. During a post-match press conference, Tsitsipas labeled the Australian "a bully," saying he had an evil side to him.
"It’s constant bullying, that’s what he does. He bullies the opponents. He was probably a bully at school himself. I don’t like bullies. I don’t like people that put other people down. He has some good traits in his character, as well. But he also has a very evil side to him, which if it’s exposed, it can really do a lot of harm and bad to the people around him," Tsitsipas said.
