Nick Kyrgios has stuck is boot into Bernard Tomic from out of nowhere.
The Aussie was tweeting up a storm as his team competed in the World Tennis League in Dubai and latched onto one reply from a tennis fan.
The social media exchanges came after Tennis Australia on Wednesday announced six more Australian wildcards for the Australian Open, beginning January 16.
Tomic was not on the list of wildcards handed out to Aussies with Alexei Popyrin, Jason Kubler and Rinky Hijikata all given direct passage into the main draw of the year’s first grand slam.
On the women’s side Olivia Gadecki will make her tournament debut twelve months after opting out of the Australian Open for declining to get vaccinated.
Storm Hunter and Talia Gibson will also compete in Melbourne, joining former world No. 1 Venus Williams as wildcards for the opening grand slam of 2023.
The announcement was crushing news for John Millman, James Duckworth, Max Purcell and Aleksandar Vukic, who are fighting for the remaining wildcard available.
Tomic, the world No. 462, has barely got a mention.
When one Twitter user suggested Tomic “surely” deserved a wildcard, Kyrgios responded: “Hahahahaha NO HE DOESNT”.
Tomic has been languishing away on the Challenger circuit but has still found a way to fire a few shots at Kyrgios.
They locked horns in October when Kyrgios was asked by a fan during an Instagram live Q+A whether an exhibition match against Tomic would happen.
Kyrgios said: “TBH, don’t think I wanna make him relevant anymore. I’m not gonna bother with someone 800 in the world. But all the best.”
But the comment left the door open for Tomic who replied: “Just a matter of time before I see you Nicky boy. #obsessed #scared”.
There’s no love lost between the two bad boys of the sport Down Under and in May it flared up again.
Responding on Instagram in May to a fan who claimed Tomic was better than Kyrgios, the Canberran responded: “Better in what way? I’ve got a higher career high (ranking). More money, more wins and give back whenever I can.
“It’s time for BT to just quiet down. He ain’t even playing anymore. I got years left.”
Tomic posted screenshots of those quotes on his Instagram story late on Wednesday night, then uploaded videos of himself mocking Kyrgios.
“The only logical explanation is that I’m his idol,” Tomic said. “He’s always been in my shadow growing up.
“That’s why anytime someone mentions my name to him, it gets under his skin.
“He knows he can’t re-write history. The records that I set when I was 16, 17, 18, and 19 — youngest slam quarter-finalist at Wimbledon (since Boris Becker), the biggest tournament in the world.
“He knows he can’t change that, he can’t re-write that and he would love to shut me up if he could, he knows he can’t.
“He knows my style dominates his and he knows he will lose.”
Kyrgios then took to Instagram to share some thoughts of his own.
“HAHA TOMIC let’s not forget the time I paid for your flight home from Shanghai because you had no money,” Kyrgios wrote.
“Hahahaha re-write history, you are the most HATED athlete in Australia.
“You are right, no one can take over that.”
Kyrgios then posted a screenshot of Tomic’s recent results, adding: “Bernard, I didn’t realise it was this bad. I low key feel bad now.
“Hit me up if you need me to help you remember how to play. Geezus.”
