Nick Kyrgios admitted spitting in the direction of a spectator at the conclusion of his five-set victory over Britain’s Paul Jubb at Wimbledon.
The Australian was involved in a three-hour thriller on Court Three, which he eventually won 3-6, 6-1, 7-5, 6-7, 7-5.
Kyrgios was involved in several agitated chats with a number of those in the crowd as well as the line judges throughout the round one contest.
And he criticised the lack of respect shown by the current generation of fans before he went on to admit his own indiscretion.
When asked if he spat in the direction of a spectator, Kyrgios replied: “Of one of the people disrespecting me, yes. Yes. I would not be doing that to someone who was supporting me.
“Today as soon as I won the match, I turned to him… I’ve been dealing with hate and negativity for a long time, so I don’t feel like I owed that person anything.
“Like, he literally came to the match to not even support anyone really, it was more just to stir up and disrespect. That’s fine. But if I give it back to you, then that’s just how it is.”
Kyrgios has long had a good relationship with the Wimbledon crowd but knew he would be the villain up against home favourite Jubb, who made an impressive start and claimed a decisive break in the eighth game to take the first set in 23 minutes.
World number 40 Kyrgios, who had already produced one underarm serve, smashed a tennis ball out of the court to threaten a round one implosion but regained his cool and broke twice in the second set before he edged a tight third.
The 27-year-old started to become frustrated with some of the line judges and spectators, including one who shouted abuse.
"Is that normal? No," he added. "But I just don’t understand why it’s happening over and over again.
“I love this tournament. It’s got nothing to do with Wimbledon. I just think it’s a whole generation of people on social media feeling like they have a right to comment on every single thing with negativity. It just carries on to real life."
A back and forth decider saw Kyrgios gain the upper-hand and a 30th ace of the match saw him move ahead 6-5 and he clinched another decisive break to wrap up victory with his second match point.
