Nick Kyrgios blows up over ‘drunk’ spectator who interrupted his game during tense third set and tells umpire: ‘She looks like she has had 700 drinks, bro!’ as an Aussie protester is hauled out by security
- Kyrgios was battling to hold his serve in the third set when he was interrupted
- Aussie claimed woman in the front row was ‘drunk out of her mind’
- Demanded she be removed from centre court, but woman was not expelled
- Australian Drew Pavlou was bundled out by security after staging protest
The Wimbledon’s men’s final developed a nasty edge in the third set as Nick Kyrgios lashed out and accused a drunk fan of interrupting him during a crucial service game.
The Aussie claimed woman sitting very close to the court was speaking to him in the middle of play and told the umpire to have her removed after he held serve against Novak Djokovic after almost being broken by the Serb.
Kyrgios blew up over a drunk fan who was talking to him in the middle of a tight service game while he battled to save the third set against Novak Djokovic
Kyrgios accused the fan of being ‘drunk out of her mind in the first row’ and told the umpire she ‘looks like she has had 700 drinks, bro’
‘She’s distracting me when I’m serving in a Wimbledon final,’ he fumed at umpire Renauld Lichtenstein.
‘There’s no other bigger occasion, you didn’t believe me and then she did it again. It nearly cost me the game.
‘Why is she still here? She’s drunk out of her mind and speaking to me in the middle of a game. What’s acceptable?’
When Lichtenstein said ‘nothing is acceptable’, to which Kyrgios replied, ‘OK, kick her out. I know exactly which one it is – the one who looks like she has had 700 drinks, bro.’
Aussie commentator Todd Woodbridge saw the commotion and said, ‘There is a guy with an Akubra hat who had a word with her, an Aussie fan, about 10 feet away.’
Despite Kyrgios’ demand that she be removed from centre court, nobody was forced to leave as a result of the blow-up.
The incident threw fuel on the fire for Kyrgios, who started the match well and kept his temper in check until it started to get away from him as he lost the second set.
Trailing Djokovic 5-4 with the Serb about to serve for the third set, the Aussie let loose at the change of ends, looking towards his supporters including his sister and girlfriend Costeen Hatzi in their courtside seats and yelled, ‘Why don’t you say something? Why? You said nothing that whole point, 40-love down, it was love-40, nothing.
‘Is that a big enough moment?’
Australian political activist Drew Pavlou is bundled out of centre court by security after protesting about the fate of missing Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai
Pavlou also helped organise protests about Peng at this year’s Australian Open
Earlier in the set play was interrupted when a man was removed by security.
Soon afterwards, Australian political activist Drew Pavlou tweeted that he was the spectator, writing: ‘Just got thrown down the stairs by Wimbledon security for holding up a sign saying #WhereIsPengShuai. One of them smashed my head into the wall.’
He got little sympathy, with one commenter replying, ‘What else were you expecting, Drew? An invitation onto the grass?’
Chinese tennis star Peng, 36, vanished after alleging ex-vice premier Zhang Gaoli forced her to have sex with him.
Her disappearance sparked protests at this year’s Australian Open, organised in part by Pavlou, who handed out free ‘Where Is Peng Shuai?’ T-shirts at the tournament.
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