Australian Nick Kyrgios let his racket do the talking as he demolished Filip Krajinovic in straight sets at Wimbledon then said he hoped the performance would earn him the respect he feels he has been denied by the world's media.
Nick Kyrgios Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Kyrgios was unstoppable as he hammered the Serbian world number 31 6-2 6-3 6-1, losing only nine points on serve in the 85-minute second round thrashing.
"Today from the get-go I just felt really good," he said. "I just wanted to prove to people that I'm really good. I feel like I just don't have the respect sometimes."
Addressing a post-match news conference he said: "Obviously the media's disrespect... it was just a reminder to put you all back in your place from the performance today.
"I just feel like people just don't give me the respect sometimes because of other things that I do. There was just nothing the media possibly could tell me I did wrong today.
"I just know that you can't possibly ask me anything and stir anything up. And I love it because then you can't write anything. What are you going to say? Nothing today. Dumbfounded all of you."
Kyrgios's spiky address came two days after he struggled past British wildcard Paul Jubb, criticising line judges, arguing with the umpire and "spitting in the direction" of a mildly rowdy spectator who had been getting on his nerves.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Meanwhile women's world number one Iga Swiatek struggled with unforced errors but found her composure when it mattered most to see off Dutch lucky loser Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove 6-4 4-6 6-3 to reach the third round and extend her winning run to 37 matches.
With the victory, Swiatek went past Monica Seles and matched Martina Hingis' run in the 1997 season. The all-time longest winning streak is held by Martina Navratilova, who had 74 successive victories in 1984.
"I mean adding another match to this number is pretty special for me but when I'm out there I'm not really thinking about that," Swiatek said.
"I'm just trying to play the best tennis possible on grass and the result is going to come. I'm pretty happy that it's 37 now. I'm going to do my best to get even more."
Swiatek next meets Frenchwoman Alize Cornet, who earlier beat American Claire Liu 6-3 6-3, for a chance to match her best performance at Wimbledon where she reached the fourth round in 2021.
Other winners today included men's second seed Rafael Nadal, fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas and two-time former champion Petra Kvitova.
Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut pulled out of the tournament after testing positive for COVID-19, becoming the third big name in the men's singles draw to withdraw from the Championships after contracting the virus.
Croatian Marin Cilic, the former U.S. Open champion and 2017 Wimbledon runner-up, and eighth seed Matteo Berrettini, who lost to Novak Djokovic in the 2021 final, earlier pulled out from the grasscourt Grand Slam ahead of the first round.
-Reuters