Nick Kyrgios is known for his volatility and outbursts on court, and the World No.77 was quick to lose his temper in front of actor Ben Stiller at the BNP Paribas Open Indian Wells a few weeks ago.
Back in March, Stiller was watching the quarter final match between Kyrgios and Rafael Nadal at the BNP Paribas Open when the person sat next to him decided to comment on the 26-year-old’s game.
“It was the weirdest thing, basically what happened was Nick Kyrgios, he talks to himself a lot during the matches and he kept on saying, ‘Oh man get your first serve in, get your first serve in,'” Stiller told host and comedian Trevor Noah on The Daily Show.
“And there was a gentleman next to me who decided when he started to serve to tell him, ‘Yeah get your first serve in.’ So Nick Kyrgios turns and goes, ‘What do you…Why are you talking to me? Do you play tennis? Are you a good tennis player?’ And the guy’s like, ‘No.’
“And then he looks at me and goes, ‘Do I tell him how to act?’ And I didn’t even quite hear it, so I thought he might have been talking to me – and then that was it, then apparently it went viral.”
For Kyrgios it was a serious accusation that he needed to get the advice of a non-tennis player in order to play well, but for Stiller he was just sat there, smiling, unaware that the Australian Open doubles champion was losing his temper right in front of him, similar to a character in one of his films.
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Kyrgios: 🗣 “Are you good at tennis?”
Heckler: 🗣 “No”
Kyrgios: 🗣 “Exactly so don't tell me how to play” *points at Ben Stiller in the crowd* - “Do I tell him how to act?” 🤣