Nick Kyrgios admits spitting in direction of abusive fan during Wimbledon first-round win and questions ‘old man’ line judge | Tennis News

Kyrgios sent down 30 aces and made 55 unforced errors against British No 8 Paul Jubb before reaching the second round with a 3-6 6-1 7-5 6-7 (3-7) 7-5 victory, but his focus after the match was on the Wimbledon crowd

Nick Kyrgios gave an explosive post-match press conference on Tuesday

Nick Kyrgios admitted to spitting in the direction of an abusive fan as he gave an explosive post-match press conference on Tuesday.

Kyrgios criticised abusive Wimbledon fans and questioned the age of the line judges after reaching the second round with a 3-6 6-1 7-5 6-7 (3-7) 7-5 victory over British No 8 Paul Jubb.

In response to a reporter’s question that asked, “At the end, you did appear to spit in the direction of,” Kyrios responded: “Of one of the people disrespecting me, yes. I would not be doing that to someone who was supporting me.”

He added: “I’ve been dealing with hate and negativity for a long time, so I don’t feel like I owed that person anything.

“He literally came to the match to not even support anyone really, just to stir up disrespect. That’s fine, but if I give it back to you, that’s just how it is.”

Kyrgios said he was not racially abused during the match, but continued to criticise the crowd generally and the influence of social media in emboldening “negativity”.

“A lot of disrespect was being thrown today,” Kyrgios said. “And I’m just starting to think that it’s normal – when it’s really not.

“I didn’t say anything to the crowd until they started – every time I came down to the far end – just going. I don’t know if it’s normal or not.”

The Australian world No 40 added: “I love this tournament. It has nothing to do with Wimbledon; I just think it’s just a whole generation of people, on social media, feeling like they have a right to comment on every single thing with negativity. It just carries on into real life.

“There’s a fence there, and I physically can’t do anything or say anything because I will get in trouble, so they just feel that they can just say anything they want.”

Kyrgios also spoke of his frustration at a fiery exchange with a line judge during the match, with the 27-year-old standing by his criticism of the “old man”.

“I said most of the umpires are older and I just don’t think that’s ideal, when you’re playing a sport of such small margins,” Kyrgios said.

“Factually, people that are younger have better eyesight. Do you not think that’s appropriate?

“When you’re playing a sport for hundreds and thousands of dollars, do you not think that we should have people that are really ready to call the ball in or out?

“That specific thing: I hit a ball in, the old man called it out. It was in. Arguably, if the guy was 40, he may not have called that out. In that case, he got the call wrong.”

Kyrgios sent down 30 aces and made 55 unforced errors in his hard-fought victory, with 22-year-old Jubb pushing him all the way to five sets.

Earlier, in his on-court interview, Kyrgios paid tribute to the British youngster while also referencing his disappointment with the crowd.

“Incredibly tough,” he said. “Obviously he’s a local wild card, he had nothing to lose, played the moment and played some exceptional tennis.

“(The) crowd was pretty rowdy today, a couple of people in the crowd were not shy of criticising me. That one was for you. You know who you are.”