Djokovic gives Kyrgios a serve over Open clash
World number-one Novak Djokovic has had a crack at Nick Kyrgios after the Aussie dragged him into his embarrassing display in his first match of the French Open.
Umpire Carlos Ramos gave Kyrgios a code violation for yelling “towel” at a ball boy which prompted Kyrgios to accuse the veteran umpire of double standards.
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In the heated exchange, Kyrgios referred to Djokovic’s unpunished act of pushing an umpire’s arm in Rome — a match umpired by Carlos Bernades, not Ramos.
Kyrgios said on-court: “So when Djokovic pushes an umpire that’s all right?”
Djokovic was asked overnight about his take on the incident after his easy win over Taipei’s Yen Hsun Lu.
“Well, I saw that. I saw that particular situation that happened in his (Kyrgios’s) match,” he said.
“What can I say? It’s his choice that he wants to bring it out there. I don’t know what he has done. I don’t know the nature of his gestures on the court and why he got a code violation, whether or not it was only for the towel or maybe something before that happened.
“I’m not getting into it. It’s completely his choice what he’s going to do about that. So, you know, by mentioning my name, I don’t think it was necessary, but again, I’ve got to respect his choice.”
When asked about the arguable double standards between top players and challengers, Kyrgios said: “I think we all know in this room if that was me that did that (pushed an umpire), it would be an absolute circus,” Kyrgios said. “But if he did it, you know, nothing really happened of it. It speaks for itself.”
Kyrgios is not expected to be fined for the first-round incident.
Meanwhile, Australian Sam Stosur progressed to the second round, while fellow Aussies Daria Gavrilova and Arina Rodionova were both knocked out.
