Nick Kyrgios furious after he says he was racially abused in Stuttgart
‘When is this going to stop?’: Aussie tennis star Nick Kyrgios furious after he says he was racially abused and called a ‘little black monkey’ by a spectator in his Stuttgart Open defeat by Andy Murray
- Tennis star says he was racially abused by a member of the crowd in Stuttgart
- Alleges that a crowd member called him a ‘little black sheep’ in his defeat
- Andy Murray beats Nick Kyrgios in two sets to reach the 70th final of his career
Nick Kyrgios has asked ‘when is this going to stop?’ after alleging that he racially abused by a member of the crowd in his Stuttgart Open defeat to Andy Murray.
The Australian tennis star said that he was called a ‘little black sheep’ and told to ‘shut up and play’ in his straight sets defeat to Murray.
Posting on Instagram after the match, Kyrgios asked ‘when is this going to stop?’ before saying that comments directed at him during the match with Murray were ‘not acceptable’.
Nick Kyrgios alleges he was racially abused by a member of the crowd in his defeat to Murray
He wrote: ‘When is this going to stop? Dealing with racial slurs from the crowd?
‘I understand my behaviour isn’t the best all the time – but “you little black sheep, shut up and play”, little comments like this are not acceptable.’
Before adding: ‘When I retaliate to the crowd I get penalised. This is messed up.’
Andy Murray beat the Australian in straight sets in Germany – but Nick Kyrgios was clearly unsettled by the abuse
Kyrgios has previously revealed what an impact racist abuse had on him, driving him into a ‘dark place’ with his resilience being the only thing that stood between him and further internal hurt.
‘I feel like I’m just resilient,’ Kyrgios said previously.
‘If someone is not as resilient as me mentally, the amount of hate I got, the amount of racism I got, the amount of bulls**t that I got from the tour, from fans, from everything, I could have been…
Nick Kyrgios posted this message on Instagram after his defeat to Andy Murray in Stuttgart
‘I was dealing with, like, not even close to the amount of stuff that was going on. That’s what I think.
‘Instead of outcasting and almost crucifying a personality, you say, “Okay, this guy is different, let’s act a certain way, let’s not treat him like a Roger Federer or like a Marin Cilic. He’s his own person”.
‘I’m just saying this sport could have driven me into a place of dark, which it did for a bit, how mentally tough it was for 18, being one of the most well-known players in Australia, getting absolutely hammered by the media. It’s not so easy.’
Murray will next take part in his first grass court final since his Wimbledon triumph in 2016
Kyrgios was impacted by the abuse he suffered from a member of the crowd, having performed well in the first set, narrowly losing in a tie-break, he fell to a 6-2 defeat in the second and decisive set.
The Australian grew to be unsettled in the second set as a result of the abuse he allegedly suffered at the hands of a member of the crowd.
Murray said after his win: ‘I was just a little more solid in the tie-break. I asked the questions.
Nick Kyrgios appeared frustrated in the second set and fell to a 6-2 set defeat to Andy Murray
‘On these courts, when it is playing quick, the set often comes down to one or two points and I was a little more secure at the end of the first set.’
The British number three, currently ranked 68 in the world, will take on Italian world number 10 Matteo Berrettini in the final on Sunday.
Berrettini came through his semi-final 7-6 (7) 7-6 (5) against German Oscar Otte.
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