Nick Kyrgios plays his best tennis on the grass courts – particularly at Wimbledon.
But the Australian star has also had some of the most controversial moments of his career on the turf at the All-England Lawn and Tennis Club.
He may have withdrawn through injury for the 2023 event, but The Sporting News looks back at the 28-year-old’s most memorable and eye-catching times at the tournament.
Wimbledon 2014: Nadal win and quarter-final berth on debut
A 19-year-old Kyrgios put himself on the global tennis map after reaching the quarter-finals in his first-ever appearance at Wimbledon in 2014.
Ranked 144th in the world at the time, the Australian received a wildcard into the main draw and dispatched his first round opponent Frenchman Stephane Robert in four sets.
He looked in all sorts during his second round match against 13th-seed Richard Gasquet – down two sets to love – before he fought back to defeat the French star 10-8 in the fifth.
In the third round, Kyrgios recovered from dropping the first set to defeat fellow wildcard Jiri Vesely and set up a monumental fourth round meeting with world no.1 Rafael Nadal.
He then went on to achieve the best win of his career at the time, defeating Nadal 7-6 (5) 5-7 7-6 (5) 6-3 to shock the world and reach the last eight.
However, Kyrgios would progress no further, going down to No. 8 seed Milos Raonic in four sets after he managed to win the first in a tiebreak.
Wimbledon 2015: Tanking, obscenities and racquet abuse
In one of the first signs that Kyrgios’ career was going to be an emotional rollercoaster, the Australian was involved in several controversial moments during his second appearance at the All England Club in 2015.
During his first round match against Diego Schwartzman, Kyrgios was heard saying ‘dirty scum’ into the court-side microphones. He later apologised but said the comments were directed at himself.
In his next match against Juan Monaco, Kyrgios was reported by a linesman to the chair umpire for using expletives. Incensed, Kyrgios demanded to know what the linesman had reported and said: “Does it feel good to be up there in that chair? Does it feel strong to be up in the chair?”
The controversy continued in his third round match against Raonic with the Australian slapped with a code of conduct warning after smashing his racquet into the ground so hard that it bounced into the stands where it was caught by a spectator.
In the same match, Kyrgios got into a verbal altercation with a female spectator who apparently told him to pull his head in.
“She started laughing. I didn’t really find it funny,” he said after the match.
“It’s easy when you’re just sitting there and you’re just watching, when you’ve got no experience at all on the court.”
Finally, in a fourth round defeat to Richard Gasquet, Kyrgios was accused of tanking during several points as he was eliminated in four sets.
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Wimbledon 2016: Abuse of his own support team
During his third round victory over Feliciano Lopez, Kyrgios was heard yelling at his entourage in his players’ box court-side, with the Australian labeling some of them ‘retarded’.
Kyrgios apologised for using the term a few days later.
Wimbledon 2018: Swearing controversy
In the third round against Robin Haase, Kyrgios was given a warning for using an audible obscenity by chair umpire James Keothavong after being reported by a linesperson.
After initially remaining calm about the incident, Kyrgios blew up a short time later, telling Keothavong to ask the linesman to do his job and not “rat on people who are giving 100 per cent out here.”
Wimbledon 2021: Complaints about the grass surface
During the 2021 Wimbledon tournament, Kyrgios publicly complained about the grass court surface on numerous occasions.
During his first round five-set win against Ugo Humbert, Kyrgios was heard on the court saying: “Guys for you watching at home, it should be fast in here … they made it slow, it’s not grass anymore. It’s a joke. Stop cutting it so f—— short … start watering it, make it a grass court again will you please? Thanks.”
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Wimbledon 2022: Spitting on court and playing the final against Djokovic
Kyrgios achieved a career-best result last year at Wimbledon, reaching the final in an eventful tournament.
The controversy began in his first match, where he was fined US$10,000 (AU$14,656) for spitting in the direction of a spectator.
He also labelled a line judge a “snitch” and hit a ball out of Court 3 during the encounter.
Kyrgios was fined again following a fiery third round clash with Stefanos Tsitsipas, docked US$4,000 (AU$5,862) for an audible obscenity following a code violation.
Despite a chaotic and emotionally charged opening week, the Australian was able to take advantage of an open draw to reach his first-ever grand slam tournament final.
He snagged the first set against Novak Djokovic in the decider, but ultimately fell in four sets.
