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'Tried to fight': Nick Kyrgios' explosive allegation against rival coach

Nick Kyrgios says the trainer and coach of men's doubles top seeds Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic accosted he and Thanasi Kokkinakis behind the scenes on Friday evening. Pictures: Getty Images/Channel 9
Nick Kyrgios says the trainer and coach of men's doubles top seeds Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic accosted he and Thanasi Kokkinakis behind the scenes on Friday evening. Pictures: Getty Images/Channel 9

Nick Kyrgios has made an astonishing allegation on social media that the coach and trainer of the men's doubles top seeds 'tried to fight' he and Thanasi Kokkinakis.

The Australian pair, who were both knocked out of the singles draw in the early rounds, upset top ranked doubles pair Mate Pavic and Nikola Mektic in straight sets on Friday afternoon.

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Much like Kyrgios' singles loss to world No.2 Daniil Medvedev the night before, a raucous crowd came out in force to support the local hopes.

Again, like the night before, the chair umpire had to battle to keep the crowd under control, particularly as Kyrgios and Kokkinakis took control of the match in the second set.

Despite the chair umpire's calls for quiet during Pavic's serve, the Croatian had clearly had enough of it at a crucial moment in the match.

Frustrated by the somewhat unconventional atmosphere at Kia Arena, Pavic approached the umpire and had a lengthy exchange before eventually returning for his serve.

“This is p***ing me off...don’t let that happen," he could be heard saying as he turned to return to the baseline.

After the match, Pavic told NewsCorp that it was 'something else' other than the crowd that had been bothering him, but reportedly declined to reveal what the true cause was.

However Kyrgios set the cat amongst the pigeons on Saturday morning, when he posted on Twitter about a tense exchange between the rival camps after the match, mocking his opponents in the process.

"Just letting you know after yesterday’s chop fest in doubles my opponent's coach and trainer proceeded to threaten to fight in the players gym," Kyrgios wrote on Twitter, accompanied by some emojis.

"Tennis is a soft soft sport @TKokkinakis all because I moved and hit them with a tennis ball."

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While he wasn't blaming the crowd for his frustrations, Pavic was still not overly impressed with their behaviour either, saying it 'wouldn't hurt to show some respect'.

“That’s how they are here. We're used to that, but it wouldn’t hurt them to show some respect,” he said.

“The guys played really well. They’re a nasty team to beat here and that’s it.”

Speaking on Channel 9 on Saturday morning, former Australian star Sam Groth said Kokkinakis had sent him a text message on Friday night saying Kyrgios had been 'accosted' by the rival camp.

"Obviously (they) weren't very happy, the number one seeds going down against Thanasi and Nick, I guess didn't accept what was going on with the crowd, accept what was happening with Nick," Groth said.

"It's a little bit soft to take off the court into the locker room, and not even the players but from someone from the team.

"It's not necessarily something you want to see."

Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis pulled off a stunning doubles upset against top seeds Mate Pavic and Nikola Mektic on Friday afternoon. (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)
Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis pulled off a stunning doubles upset against top seeds Mate Pavic and Nikola Mektic on Friday afternoon. (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)

Adding to the commentary, fellow former Aussie star Mark Philippoussis said Pavic and Maktic had shouldn't be getting bent out of shape about getting hit with the ball.

He said it was simply part of the game occasionally in doubles tennis.

"You're playing good doubles players with great hands, you get a short ball you're going straight at the guy's net," he said.

"You say sorry - you might not mean it but you say sorry.

"That's the play, you go straight for them and you have a racquet for a reason, to protect yourself."

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