The Australian tennis pro Nick Kyrgios complained about a racist statement after his semifinals at the ATP lawn tournament in Stuttgart.
In an Instagram story, the 27-year-old asserted on Saturday evening that an insult from the spectator stands was the reason for his freaking out in the 6: 7 (5: 7), 2: 6 against the two-time Wimbledon winner Andy Murray from Great Britain.
“When will this stop dealing with racist slurs from the crowd?” Kyrgios wrote. He knows that his behavior is “not always optimal”, “but comments like ‘you little black sheep’ and ‘shut up and play’ are not acceptable”.
At the end of the first set, Kyrgios had once again reinforced his image as a “tennis bad boy”. After losing the tie-break, he initially suffered a point deduction after smashing his racket. At the beginning of the second round he messed with the crowd and was penalized with a game deduction.
Then Kyrgios played listlessly, the audience whistled him goodbye. “If I fight back against the crowd, I will be punished. That’s stupid,” he wrote.
Murray had already complained about the circumstances of his finals shortly after the end of the game. “In the end it wasn’t fun anymore,” he said on ServusTV: “In the second set it wasn’t a real match anymore.”
The former world No ), 7:6 (7:5) defeated.