Nick Kyrgios throws brutal shade on Jannik Sinner, umpire Carlos Bernardes

10/08/2024 07:25 PM

Nick Kyrgios was asked about the prospect of teaming up with Jannik Sinner for some doubles, and those who have been actively following tennis for the past two months can guess how that one went. 

For two months straight, the Australian has been continuously attacking the ATP world No. 1 but also the ITIA authorities who cleared the 23-year-old in the doping case without issuing him at least a provisional suspension during the investigation. In the 29-year-old's mind, the two-time Grand Slam champion definitely should have been accountable for two failed doping tests and warranted suspension. 

So when asked about the possibility of sharing the same side of the net with Sinner, Kyrgios said he was willing to do that only with "clean players," which clearly shows what the former world No. 13 thinks about the entire situation.

"Doubles with Sinner? pls." one of the questions that the Australian received read. His response was brutal: "I only play with CLEAN players."

Meanwhile, the recent US Open champion wasn't the only one who got called out by Kyrgios as the seven-time ATP champion also had something for umpire Bernardes. 

In case you missed it, an absolutely stunning error during a Shanghai Masters meeting between Stan Wawrinka and Flavio Cobolli. With the Swiss 0-1 down in the third set of their match, he won the opening point of his service game with a great serve. But after Cobolli won the following points, instead of calling it a 15/15 score, Bernardes called 0/30. Cobolli went on to win that game and that ended up being the only break of the match as the 22-year-old completed a 6-7 (6) 7-6 (4) 6-3 win. 

Shockingly, no one noticed the error that Bernardes made - not him nor the players. Kyrgios, who has a history with Bernardes since he confronted the umpire during a 2022 Miami Masters loss over being slapped with a point penalty in one of the key moments of the match, ripped the umpire as "potato" and called for his dismissal from the Tour.

"BERNARDES SHOULD OF BEEN FIRED YEARS AGO. HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN. Potato," the 2022 Wimbledon finalist wrote.

BERNARDES SHOILD OF BEEN FIRED YEARS AGO. HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN. Potato.

— Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) October 8, 2024

10 days ago when the WADA confirmed that they would appeal the ITIA's verdict in Sinner's case, the 29-year-old Australian had a field day. 

"The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) confirms that on Thursday 26 September, it lodged an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in the case of Italian tennis player, Jannik Sinner, who was found by an independent tribunal of the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) to bear no fault or negligence having twice tested positive for clostebol, a prohibited substance, in March 2024. It is WADA’s view that the finding of 'no fault or negligence' was not correct under the applicable rules. WADA is seeking a period of ineligibility of between one and two years," WADA's statement read.

Shortly after the news dropped, Kyrgios laughed at the Italian in the comment section of an Instagram post: "Hahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahah ahahahahahaha god I hope the people running this thing don't care that he is number 1 and has money," Kyrgios wrote in the comments on Instagram after the news came out.

And he didn't stop there, adding more in another post: "Hahaha maybe not so innocent after all eh?"

While the Australian's comments on Sinner have been extremely harsh, he claimed during the US Open that it wasn't anything personally but that he simply felt the case wasn't handled fairly.

"It’s nothing against Sinner personally at all. I know how important he is. He’s one of the greatest tennis players we have right now... And how important he’s gonna be for the next 15 years. I’m not denying any of that. Nothing against him personally. If you look at Jenson Brooksby... Players who’ve had their careers taken away for up to a year... And someone like Jannik just kind of doing it his own kind of way. I think he had it on his own terms for most of the time. I don’t think that’s fair and equal for the rest of the tour," Kyrgios said on ESPN for which he worked during the final Grand Slam of the year. 

Meanwhile, the current world No. 1 has definitely heard and read everything that the 2022 Wimbledon runner-up said about him. But he didn't want to engage into war of words.

"I don't want to respond on what he (Nick) said. Everyone is free to say everything. It's ok," Sinner said.