‘Never seen anything like it’ - Mats Wilander, Alex Corretja call for stricter umpiring after Kyrgios-Tsitsipas clash
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ByEurosport
Updated 02/07/2022 at 23:40 GMT
Mats Wilander and Alex Corretja have said that chair umpires need to show more authority after Nick Kyrgios and Stefanos Tsitsipas contested a feisty third-round clash at Wimbledon. “I've never seen anything like it. I'm not sure I want to see something like that again," said Wilander. While Corretja added: “The chair umpires need to be stricter."
'It's not right' - Schett reacts to Kyrgios spitting towards fan at Wimbledon
Stefanos Tsitsipas has hit out at Nick Kyrgios after he lost a fiery third-round tie against the Australian.
The world No. 40 came from a set down to beat the fourth seed 6-7 6-4 6-3 7-6(7) in a match that had code violations, arguments with the umpire, and interventions from referees and supervisors.
The most contentious moment came at the close of the second set. After losing the set, Tsitsipas hit a ball into the crowd and it missed a spectator by inches. Kyrgios took exception to it, telling umpire Damien Dumusois that the No. 4 seed should have been defaulted. The Greek received a code violation, but for Kyrgios that was not enough.
For a few minutes, Kyrgios refused to play on - demanding to speak to supervisors and tournament referees. He threatened to walk off court before resuming battle at the start of the third.
And speaking to Eurosport, seven-time Grand Slam winner Mats Wilander said.
“Is it entertaining? Yes. Is it respectful? No,” began Wilander.
“Is the tennis great at times? Unbelievable, because both players are such good players. And Kyrgios is so talented.
“I've never seen anything like it. I'm not sure I want to see something like that, again, to be honest, because I don't think this is what we want to promote in tennis. We want to not promote it as entertainment.
“We want to promote it as inspirational, educational, but this is what people maybe want to see. I'm not sure I'm a big fan of what's going on to be honest.”
Alex Corretja urged umpires to get a better handle on the behaviour of players.
“The chair umpires need to be stricter,” he began, with Wilander adding: "I agree."
Corretja would then add: “There should be respect between players and between chair umpire.
“The umpire needs to say, 'I am the boss and you can’t just do and say whatever you like'.
“We love the match; we love the entertainment but we need to respect also a little bit the conditions.”
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Watch daily highlights from Wimbledon at 10pm on Eurosport 2 and discovery+ from June 27, as well as the two singles finals live on July 9 and 10.
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