Don’t think Kyrgios was very happy
Nick Kyrgios voiced his frustration with a ‘drunk’ spectator during his Wimbledon final against Novak Djokovic.
The Australian, in first major singles final, took the first set 6-4 in 30 minutes. However, Djokovic produced an immediate reply to a Kyrgios’ strong start by taking the second set 6-3.
During the third set, Kyrgios was visibly annoyed with one spectator in particular, with the 27-year-old complaining about a woman to the umpire.
Nick Kyrgios asked the umpire to eject the woman, however, the official said, “I don’t know which one it is.”
To that line, Kyrgios replied: “It’s the one who looks like she’s had seven hundred drinks, bro.”
UMPIRE: Which one is it?”
KYRIOS: “It’s the one in the dress…the one who looks like she’s had around 700 drinks bro!” @NickKyrgios #Wimbledon #kyrgios #WimbledonFinal pic.twitter.com/14TgK3RaTe
— Stefan Simanowitz (@StefSimanowitz) July 10, 2022
https://twitter.com/eretzsportmed2/status/1546144775363260416?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1546144775363260416%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailymail.co.uk%2Fsport%2Fsportsnews%2Farticle-10999869%2FWimbledon-mens-final-disrupted-protester-shouting-Peng-Shuai.html
Ejected protestor takes to social media
While it was unclear at first what the protest was actually about, it now appears that the protestor was holding up a sign about Peng Shuai, who is a Chinese tennis player who went missing from the public eye soon after accusing Zhang Gaoli, a retired Vice Premier of China, of sexual assault in 2021.
She re-appeared on state media two weeks later, however, many critics in the west believe her return was staged after concern was raised over her disappearance. Despite several months passing, Peng is still yet to fully return.
The protester, identified as Drew Pavlou, has since explained his version of events on social media, and alleged that he was roughly treated by security.
On Twitter, he said: “I held up a sign at the Wimbledon Final saying “Where Is Peng Shuai?” I shouted “Where Is Peng Shuai, Chinese tennis star persecuted by the Chinese government, why won’t Wimbledon say something?”.
My statement: I held up a sign at the Wimbledon Final saying “Where Is Peng Shuai.” I shouted “Where Is Peng Shuai, Chinese tennis star persecuted by the Chinese government, why won’t Wimbledon say something?” Security pushed me over one of the rows and we all tripped over it,
— Drew Pavlou 🇦🇺🇺🇦🇹🇼🇨🇾 (@DrewPavlou) July 10, 2022
“Security pushed me over one of the rows and we all tripped over it.
Then one of the security guards who tripped, a guy in a blue Hawaiian shirt, he wanted to get back at me and hurt me, he pushed me with full force down the steps and I fell head first. He then grabbed me and smashed me up against the wall and twisted my arms behind my back
— Drew Pavlou 🇦🇺🇺🇦🇹🇼🇨🇾 (@DrewPavlou) July 10, 2022
“Then one of the security guards who tripped, a guy in a blue Hawaiian shirt, he wanted to get back at me and hurt me, he pushed me with full force down the steps and I fell head first.
“He then grabbed me and smashed me up against the wall and twisted my arms behind my back.
As he smashed me against the wall he said “the police are coming to arrest you now.” team of security treated me like a terrorist, kept my arms twisted really painfully behind my back as they expelled me from the stadium, all while saying they were sympathetic to my cause
— Drew Pavlou 🇦🇺🇺🇦🇹🇼🇨🇾 (@DrewPavlou) July 10, 2022
“As he smashed me against the wall he said, ‘the police are coming to arrest you now.’
“Team of security treated me like a terrorist, kept my arms twisted really painfully behind my back as they expelled me from the stadium, all while saying they were sympathetic to my cause.”
He also uploaded a photo of his wrist on Twitter, claiming that his injury was a result of how security had treated him.
Photo of my wrist after Wimbledon Security threw me head first down the stairs for holding up a #WhereIsPengShuai sign in the crowd pic.twitter.com/wj3VHYsncX
— Drew Pavlou 🇦🇺🇺🇦🇹🇼🇨🇾 (@DrewPavlou) July 10, 2022
When someone questioned his decision to disrupt the match, he relied: “I didn’t want to disrupt the match, I just held up the sign and security started attacking me, it was only at that point I shouted out Where Is Peng Shuai because I wanted to get the message out, sorry Nick Kyrgios @NickKyrgios I love you man hope you win the match”.
I didn’t want to disrupt the match, I just held up the sign and security started attacking me, it was only at that point I shouted out Where Is Peng Shuai because I wanted to get the message out, sorry Nick Kyrgios @NickKyrgios I love you man hope you win the match https://t.co/0mJhtSydMc
— Drew Pavlou 🇦🇺🇺🇦🇹🇼🇨🇾 (@DrewPavlou) July 10, 2022
Despite the earlier interruption, Djokovic held his nerve to secure his seventh men’s singles Wimbledon championship after winning the fourth set.
