Tennis Australia boss Craig Tiley says his team are “looking closely” at the fiery locker room altercation in which Nick Kyrgios claims he was threatened.
Kyrgios tweeted that the coach and trainer of Croatian pairing Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic wanted to fight him in the players’ gym following his upset doubles win with Thanasi Kokkinakis.
https://twitter.com/NickKyrgios/status/1484660699557412864?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
But while Tiley said the ugly scenes remain under scrutiny, he initially attempted to downplay them during his interview on Nine’s Today.
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“There was a lot of passion and a lot of energy in the stadium and I think that carried over beyond the stadium,” Tiley said.
“I have spoken to Nick and the team and this is not unusual, it’s not uncommon. When players have a situation like this and players are beaten and they are expected to win the match and there’s so much passion from the fans.
“Nick and Thanasi have moved on, they play again this afternoon and I think we’ll see Kia Arena again filled with fans that are passionate about watching the Australians hopefully advance deeper into the second week.”
But Nine’s Charles Croucher pressed Tiley.
“Not unusual that a coach would threaten a player after a match?” Croucher asked.
“No, clearly we’ll look closely at that and we continue to look closely at that,” Tiley responded.
“I’ve spoken to Nick and Thanasi about that.
“What’s not unusual and not uncommon is the passion but certainly there are rules and conditions around how you respond at the end of the match.”
Kyrgios and Kokkinakis continue their doubles campaign against seeded opponents Gonzalo Escobar and Ariel Behar this afternoon.
Doubles legend Todd Woodbridge has tipped the ‘Special Ks’ as potential winners of the tournament, urging them to put the drama of their win over the No.1 seeds behind them and win their first Grand Slam title together.
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