Former pro Petrova reignites Kyrgios-Tsitsipas feud: "He plays for the audience, it somehow turns him on, he is a cocky guy"

A former Russian player sided with the mum of Stefanos Tsitsipas who said previously that Kyrgios plays dirty tennis.

Nadia Petrova took a shot at Kyrgios during an interview with Championat explaining that she agrees with the mother of Stefanos Tsitsipas. She said:

“I agree with Tsitsipas’ mother. This is an individual sport, so there can be such anger at each other. But Kyrgios can bring it out of anyone, even the most cool-blooded. Nadal was p***ed off by his behaviour how many times.”

Petrova doesn't like any antics in tennis, not just the ones that Kyrgios employs noting the importance of the tennis culture - having respect for your opponent:

“He plays for the audience, it somehow turns him on, he is a cocky guy. Still, there is a culture of tennis, it's about the respect of the opponent. If someone uses psychological tricks, influencing the opponent's game, this is against the rules, not like a man, disrespectful to him.”

She added:

"Only Nick decided: the rules for him are not the rules. And even more so in tennis. Tennis is a very stiff sport. Our match turned out to be very nervous with Nick Kyrgios. That is, we were practically offered to play dirty tennis there, but we don’t know how to play such tennis. Therefore, Styopa lost his temper and left the court without getting there.”