A tennis official has spilled details on the moment Stan Wawrinka accosted Nick Kyrgios inside the dressing rooms of the Canadian Open.
In one of the most explosive tennis scandals in recent years, the Australian infamously made a disgusting comment to the tennis veteran about his then-girlfriend Donna Vekic in the middle of a match in 2015.
Kyrgios was fined for telling Wawrinka, “Kokkinakis banged your girlfriend. Sorry to tell you that, mate”.
Kyrgios’ and Wawrinka’s versions of the altercation have differed in comments the pair have made in public in recent years with Wawrinka confirming there was an incident.
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Former director of the Canadian Open Eugene Lapierre has now revealed he feared the incident was about to become a fight before the pair were separated by other people in the Montreal locker room.
Lapierre also revealed Wawrinka quit his post-match press conference suddenly to confront Kyrgios after learning about the remark made about Vekic, who was 19 years’ old at the time.
“Wawrinka hadn’t heard, but Kyrgios’ comments were on TV because of the microphones on the court,” Lapierre told Journal de Quebec.
“In a press conference, a journalist informed him of what had been said. Wawrinka was furious! It’s like he just lost face in front of everyone. He quickly went down to the locker room, where Kyrgios was still. They had to be separated, because it risked degenerating quickly.”
Wawrinka followed the incident by posting a series of messages on Twitter where he said Kyrgios’ comment was something he “would not say to my worst enemy”.
“To stoop so low is not only unacceptable but also beyond belief,” he wrote.
“So disappointing to see a fellow athlete and colleague be so disrespectful in a way I could never even imagine.”
Kyrgios’ brother Christos further inflamed the situation after the incident, making crude remarks about Vekic on radio and then again on Facebook.
Christos suggested if he was there, he would have attacked Wawrinka himself.
“The p***k is lucky I wasn’t there or he would have been withdrawing from the next few tournaments,” Christos wrote on Facebook.
“He put his hands on Nick — grabbed him and said a whole bunch of abusive s***. I’ve studied law and that s*** is abuse bro. Lucky we aren’t pressing charges.”
At the time, Christos’ interview with Triple M had to be dumped.
It was later revealed that Christos had said Vekic “likes Kokk”, but has repeatedly insisted he was referring to Thanasi Kokkinakis and nothing untoward.
Kyrgios was booed in his return to the court in Montreal.
The ATP took action against him, issuing a $35,000 fine and stating there was a possibility of more action.
Kyrgios later made a public apology on Facebook.
The pair have never reconciled their grievance, but have played each other four more times since the incident with Wawrinka leading the head-to-head 3-2.
