Ahead of Indian Wells showdown, revisitingNick Kyrgios' meltdown against Casper Ruud in 2019 Italian Open
World No. 8 Casper Ruud will take on Nick Kyrgios in the third round of the Indian Wells Masters on Monday.
The Norwegian beat qualifier Christopher Eubanks in the second round while the Australian got the better of 32nd seed Federico Delbonis.
This will be the second meeting between Ruud and Kyrgios, with the pair having faced off at the 2019 Italian Open. The Norwegian was ranked 76th in the world at the time and took the opening set 6-3. However, the then World No. 36 Kyrgios bounced back to win the second in a tiebreak.
Both players exchanged breaks in the third set and the score was 1-1 before the Australian received a game penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct. In response, Kyrgios broke a racquet, kicked a water bottle and threw a chair on the court. He was eventually defaulted and Ruud reached the third round of the Italian Open. The two have since clashed on social media on a few occasions.
A few months later, the Norwegian defended his decision to celebrate and also called Kyrgios "an idiot."
"He can say as much as he wants about me getting disqualified but it still says 1-0 to me," Ruud told Tennisportalen." I don’t know, he was totally crazy when I played him. It was nice to win. If I celebrated after the match or not? I don’t care. I was happy I got 90 points and $50,000 in prize money so why wouldn’t I celebrate? It’s his problem that he’s an idiot on court."
Kyrgios responded to Ruud's comments in a tweet, calling his brand of tennis boring.
"Hey Casper Ruud, next time you have something to say, I would appreciate you say it to my face, I’m sure you wouldn’t run your mouth so much after that. Until then I will continue to rather watch paint dry then watch you play tennis, boring af."
"But again, I also understand why you have to keep my name in your mouth, because people dont even realise that you play tennis, goodluck in Milan champ."
Hey @CasperRuud98 next time you have something to say, I would appreciate you say it to my face, I’m sure you wouldn’t run your mouth so much after that. Until then I will continue to rather watch paint dry then watch you play tennis, boring af.
goodluck in Milan champ xBut again, I also understand why you have to keep my name in your mouth, because people dont even realise that you play tennis 😂 goodluck in Milan champ x
Nick Kyrgios said Casper Ruud is a good player but accused him of stealing points in claycourt tournaments
Kyrgios and Ruud were involved in a social media feud last year, with the former taking a dig at the latter performing well mostly on clay courts.
@atptour Bro why is there still clay 😂 bringing in absolutely ZERO FANS, ZERO CROWDS. ZERO HYPE. It’s detrimental to the sport. My god. Excluding Gasquet, cuz he playing for just points this is just sad man. No wonder we are going backwards 🤦🏽♂️😴
@atptour 🤦🏽♂️
Ruud didn't hold back and asked what Kyrgios' favorite claycourt tournament was in a Twitter Q & A .
@atptour @NickKyrgios @CitiOpen What’s his favorite clay court tournament?
Kyrgios' response was juvenile and unnecessarily personal. However, he deleted it and later called Ruud a good player while also saying that he steals points in claycourt tournaments.
"Hahahaha this is classic. Casper Ruud you are a good player. But we all know you stealing points through those tournaments haha."
Lol, that was deleted quick, @NickKyrgios! https://t.co/ERKAo4IICs
Soon after, Ruud made the quarterfinals of the Cincinnati Masters, where he seemingly took another subtle dig at the Aussie with his inscription on the camera lens after the win. The Inscription read "Hard Courts :)"
First Masters 1000 quarter-final on hard court ✌️
@CasperRuud98 makes it 13 wins on the trot with a 6-4 6-3 victory over Dusan Lajovic.
#NBO21 https://t.co/lp73DOkIrb
Ruud will be the heavy favorite entering their match at Indian Wells and Kyrgios will be pulling a major upset if he beats the Norwegian.
Also Check Out: Indian Wells Masters 2022 Results