Nick Kyrgios bantered by Novak Djokovic over Tsitsipas antics on Wimbledon practice courts

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Novak Djokovic and Nick Kyrgios had an exchange on the practice courts at Wimbledon ahead of the Aussie’s fourth-round clash with Brandon Nakashima. The top seed appeared to poke fun at the 27-year-old for his antics against Stefanos Tsitsipas on Saturday night while the world No 40 made a sarcastic remark about Djokovic’s match against his friend Thanasi Kokkinakis.

Kyrgios went for a last-minute hit an hour before his Wimbledon fourth-round match against Nakashima, and Djokovic passed by after finishing his own practice at Aorangi Park. While the Aussie was rallying on court, the world No 3 bantered him and cracked a joke.

“You’re going straight for the opponent already,” he laughed, speaking to Kyrgios in what appeared to be a reference to Tsitsipas admitting he tried to hit the world No 40 with the ball during their fiery third round on Saturday night.

After a brief chat, the 27-year-old quipped back: “Thanasi played you into form,” referring to Djokovic’s second-round win over his countryman and friend Kokkinakis.

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Djokovic was below-par in his first-round match against Soonwoo Kwon with nothing to separate the two in the opening two sets. But he was back to his very best against Kokkinakis, winning in straight sets and breaking his opponent five times.

Kyrgious also struggled in his opening match against Britain’s Paul Jubb, but was flawless against Filip Krajinovic before the heated clash with Tsitsipas. The world No 6 accused Kygios of being a “bully”, which prompted the Aussie to reply with: “I’m not sure how I bullied him.

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“He was the one hitting balls at me, he was the one that hit a spectator, he was the one that smacked it out of the stadium.

“I didn’t do anything. I was actually like — apart from me just going back and forth to the umpire for a bit, I did nothing towards Stefanos today that was disrespectful, I don’t think. I was not drilling him with balls.”

Djokovic is already through to the quarter finals after his win over Tim van Rijthoven. Kyrgios can join him in his first trip to the quarter finals of any major since 2015 if he beats Nakashima.

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