Stefanos Tsitsipas called on Nick Kyrgios for a rematch after the Greek-Australian beat the world No 6 from Athens in the third round of Wimbledon en route to his first Grand Slam final this summer. However, the Greek star set Kyrgios one condition for the revenge match.
Kyrgios has enjoyed the best season of his career, winning the doubles title at the Australian Open, his seventh singles title in Washington, and the doubles titles in both Atlanta and Washington.
The world No 20 also reached his maiden Grand Slam singles final at Wimbledon this summer, stunning fourth seed Tsitsipas en route.
Their fifth meeting was full of drama as Kyrgios called for a new referee before Tsitsipas later hit a ball into the stands in frustration, with the Aussie demanding his opponent be defaulted.
It was the eventual finalist who came through 6-7(2) 6-4 6-3 7-6(7) in a rowdy Saturday night match at the All England Club, and Tsitsipas now wants revenge.
The Greek star took part in a video for Tennis Channel’s Instagram as he visited Costa Navarino and while at one of the coastal town’s tennis courts, he challenged Kyrgios to join him there for a grudge match. “Nick Kyrgios, I challenge you to come here [and] we play a rematch,” he said.
“Mr Kyrgios, please come to Costa Navarino. I’d like a revenge match.” But the nine-time title winner’s offer came with a catch as he added: “And no talking this time.”
Kyrgios proved he was more than up for it as he reposted the video to his Instagram story and asked his rival to clarify a few things about the rematch.
“DONE,” he wrote. “Let’s get this REVENGE MATCH GOING…. When and where and how much,” he asked, with five money bag emojis. The Kyrgios and Tsitsipas rivalry has been an interesting one, dating back to 2019 when the Aussie won a three-set thriller in the semi-finals of Washington, going on to win the title.
The pair had played doubles together at the same tournament earlier in the week and shared a hilarious moment in their singles match as the 24-year-old needed a new pair of shoes from his box and Kyrgios fetched them for him, jokingly bowing to Tsitsipas as he presented them.
But their rollercoaster rivalry began long before they had their first meeting on the tennis court, with social media beef dating back to the 2018 US Open. The 23-year-old had shared a photo of himself in New York four years ago, with the Aussie replying: “Da fuq."
Tsitsipas later hit back at Kyrgios with a dig as he said: “It's not sitting in my room playing video games, Fortnite like someone does. It's better going outside and creating something rather than just sitting inside playing video games for the whole day, which I did before and now see no point in doing.”
It then came as a surprise when Kyrgios told the No Challenges Remaining podcast that he wanted to play doubles with Tsitsipas in early 2019, getting his wish a few months later.
After appearing to become friends, the pair traded blows after their recent Wimbledon match as the Greek player called his opponent “evil” and a “bully” as Kyrgios responded: “I’m not sure how I bullied him. He was the one hitting balls at me, he was the one that hit a spectator, he was the one that smacked it out of the stadium.”
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