Nick Kyrgios has slammed American star Taylor Fritz for his ‘two out of 10’ tweener during his Wimbledon quarter-final match against Lorenzo Musetti.
The Australian tennis bad boy is not featuring at SW19 this year and has instead decided to pick up the microphone, joining the BBC’s commentary team.
He was not impressed by Fritz and his poor timing with a tweener as the 13th-seed tried to hit the ball between his legs against his Italian opponent.
Fritz bizarrely attempted the notoriously difficult shot when Musetti had break point and he badly got it wrong, handing his opponent a second-set lead.
‘No! Not the right time,’ Kyrgios shouted as replays showed Fritz trying to hit the tweener. ‘I mean, I love it… but it’s not the right time.
‘He almost overran it. He could’ve got around it and hit a forehand. That’s a two out of 10 for Taylor Fritz. That’s a rough one.’
Kyrgios hailed Fritz earlier in the Championships, labelling him ‘cheeky’ after his second-round grudge match win over Arthur Rinderknech.
Fritz and Rinderknech got into a heated back-and-forth at the net after their match on Court 12, which the American 13th-seed won 6-3 6-4 3-6 6-4.
Rinderknech was told to ‘have a nice flight home’ by Fritz as he trolled his French opponent at the All England Club – in what was a rematch of their incredibly tense and feverish French Open clash last year.
Fritz, speaking in his post-match press conference after beating Rinderknech at Wimbledon, said: ‘I’m a very chill person.
‘I don’t do anything that could rub people the wrong way, so when someone kind of just goes out of their way to take a shot at me, then I’m not just going to take it. It gave me the extra fire to win.’
Kyrgios, a Wimbledon runner-up in 2022, reacted to the spat on social media and said: ‘This is what the sport needs. Taylor Fritz [is] cheeky.’
Meanwhile, Kyrgios has reopened his feud with BBC commentator Andrew Castle at this year’s Championships.