Stuttgart: During his semifinal defeat to Andy Murray at the Stuttgart Open, Nick Kyrgios said he was subjected to racial taunts from the audience. The Australian posted on Instagram following the 7-6 (5), 6-2 loss to Murray that he had heard abusive comments from the stands on Saturday.
“When is this going to stop? Dealing with racial slurs from the crowd?” he wrote on Instagram. “I understand that my behavior isn’t the best all the time — but you little black sheep’ shut up and play’ little comments like this are not acceptable. When I retaliate to the crowd I get penalised. This is messed up.”
Nick Kyrgios says he heard racial slurs from the Stuttgart crowd earlier today. pic.twitter.com/hdBktmz6Yq
— José Morgado (@josemorgado) June 11, 2022
Nick Kyrgios destroyed his racket after losing the first set to Andy Murray in Stuttgart 😡 pic.twitter.com/2BriHC29Aq
— Sky Sports (@SkySports) June 11, 2022
Kyrgios suffered a point penalty for shattering his racket at the end of the first-set tiebreaker, followed by a game penalty for unsportsmanlike behavior in the second set after approaching the audience and asking, “What did you say?”
@NickKyrgios nothing else then "cmon nick" #ATPStuttgart #stuttgart #Kyrgios pic.twitter.com/BhS0sve84c
— Dominik Pilgrim (@DominikPilgrim) June 11, 2022
Kyrgios then sat down and did not return to the court until he met with the tournament supervisor.
Murray will play second-seeded Italian Matteo Berrettini in the final on Sunday, his first grass-court singles final since winning Wimbledon in 2016.
