Nick Kyrgios hit an outrageous lob between the legs during Australian Open, then mocked Alexander Zverev on Twitter to continue their off-court spat
- On Tuesday, Nick Kyrgios produced an outrageous between-the-legs lob in his Australian Open first-round victory over Lorenzo Sonego.
- He then took to Twitter to mock Alexander Zverev, continuing their off-court spat.
- Zverev told reporters, as per Reuters, earlier in the tournament that Kyrgios won't win The Open because there are lots of young players "just better than him."
- Kyrgios had remained quiet until the German missed a tweener attempt of his own against Marco Cecchinato.
- "If you hit tweeners like this, please shush," Kyrgios said in a since-deleted post on Twitter, responding to a video of Zverev's failed shot.
- Kyrgios will play Gilles Simon in the second round on Thursday, while Zverev faces Belarusian Egor Gerasimov.
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Nick Kyrgios produced an outrageous between-the-legs lob as he eased into the Australian Open second round on Tuesday.
He then took to Twitter to mock Alexander Zverev for his own failed attempt, continuing their off-court spat.
Kyrgios powered past Lorenzo Sonego in straight sets at the Melbourne Arena and was clearly enjoying the occasion, treating the crowd to a trademark tweener in the third.
Tied at one game each in the final set, the pair rallied for seven shots before the Aussie lobbed Sonego with a shot through his legs. The Italian back-peddled in time to reach it, however, he fired long.
Zverev, who beat Sonego's countryman Marco Cecchinato in the first round, had tried a similar shot at the Margaret Court Arena on the same day to no avail.
Earlier in the tournament, Zverev inexplicably took aim at Kyrgios, telling reporters, as per Reuters, that the Australian is unlikely to win this year's Open because "there's a lot of young guys that are right now, no offence, just better than him."
Kyrgios had until now taken the higher ground, but after the German's failed tweener, he couldn't resist poking fun.
Responding to a mention from The Open's official account suggesting he could provide Zverev with tweener lessons, the Kyrgios said: "I agree, lots of better tennis players than me, but if you hit tweeners like this, please shush."
He then deleted the tweet.
The pair's ongoing row off the court, however, was no distraction for either man on the day, both just needing three sets to brush aside Sonego and Cecchinato respectively.
Kyrgios won 6-2, 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-1), setting up a second-round match with Gilles Simon on Thursday, while Zverev won 6-4, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3, and will next face Belarusian Egor Gerasimov.
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