Nick Kyrgios claims Stuttgart crowd hurled racial slurs at him during semifinal match

Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios claimed racial slurs were targeted at him during his Stuttgart semifinal versus Andy Murray.

On Saturday, Kyrgios clashed three-time Grand Slam champion Murray in the Stuttgart semifinal.

Unfortunately for Kyrgios, he suffered a straight-set defeat to Murray and failed to reach his first singles final of the season.

After the match, Kyrgios took to Instagram to voice some frustration and disappointment at the same time.

“When is this going to stop? Dealing with racial slurs from the crowd? I understand that my behavior isn’t the best all the time – but ‘you little black sheep’ or ‘shut up and play’ – little comments like this are not acceptable. When I retaliate to the crowd I get penalised. This is messed up,” Kyrgios wrote on his Instagram Story.

Couldn’t hear what was being said on court earlier but Kyrgios just clarified on his social media that he was responding to a racial slur yelled at him from the crowd. I hope the fan was kicked out. pic.twitter.com/y1qzQFbWAY

— Reem Abulleil (@ReemAbulleil) June 11, 2022

Kyrgios defeated by Murray in two sets

Kyrgios grew up idolizing Murray and on Saturday he met his idol in an ATP semifinal.

In a battle between two grass courts specialists, Murray was the better as he beat Kyrgios 7-6 (5) 6-2.

After losing a tight first set, Kyrgios’ game fell apart as Murray broke the Australian twice in the second set and sealed a straight-set victory to progress into his first grass final since 2016.

“It has been a long time since the last final [on grass]. A lot of ups and downs, but I kept going and kept working and finally managed to get to another one,” Murray said in his on-court interview. “I am proud of the effort I have put in. I was just a little more solid in the tie-break. I asked the questions. On these courts, when it is playing quick, the set often comes down to one or two points and I was a little more secure at the end of the first set.”

Meanwhile, Kyrgios will stay in Germany as he is set to meet Daniel Altmaier in the Halle first round.