Infamous Aussie tennis star Nick Kyrgios has fired back at Michael Venus, labelling the Kiwi doubles ace "salty" for his comments after their quarter-final tie at the Australian Open on Tuesday.
Among their now trademark on-court antics, Kyrgios and compatriot Thanasis Kokkinakis encouraged the frenzied crowd to jeer between serves and mocked Venus when he took exception.
After losing in three sets, Venus took aim at the self-proclaimed 'Special Ks', calling their behaviour "disgraceful and pathetic" and Kyrgios an "absolute knob".
Having clinched a place in the doubles showpiece with a 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 semi-final win over Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos on Thursday, Kyrgios responded to Venus' comments in a surprisingly restrained fashion.
"I'm not going to destroy him [Venus] in this media conference right now, but Granollers and Zeballos are great players and I respect them a lot more than I respect Michael Venus," Kyrgios said after their win.
"Zeballos took a selfie with us before we walked out, that's how you embrace an atmosphere. You're not losing a match and then getting salty about it afterwards.
"It's ridiculous."
Kyrgios was at it again during Thursday's semi-final, dismantling his racket, firing off expletives, complaining about the net senor and making what appeared to be an obscene gesture to a member of the crowd.
His behaviour has polarised the tennis fraternity, although the majority seem to believe the 26-year-old has been habitually crossing the line.
"I've been involved in some pretty hairy tennis matches over the years but the way that he acted was pretty much an absolute prat," former Grand Slam umpire Tony Glentworth told Newshub earlier this week.
Kyrgios and Kokkinakis face Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell in an all-Australian final on Saturday.
