The woman Nick Kyrgios claimed was “drunk” and had thrown off Wimbledon’s Centre Court insists she was not intoxicated and had only been “trying to support” the Australian tennis player.
The incident took place during Sunday’s nail-biting men’s singles final where Kyrgios went up against Novak Djokovic.
Kyrgios could be heard angrily complaining to the umpire that a female spectator was putting him off his serve and should be thrown out.
When the official asked if he could identify which person it was bothering him, Kyrgios retorted: “The one who looks like she’s had 700 drinks, bro.”
While he had regularly criticised umpiring decisions throughout the match, his anger on this ocassion was directed at Ania Palus, a medical lawyer from Poland who was seated close to the front.
"She's the one who looks like she's had 700 drinks, bro."
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) July 10, 2022
Nick Kyrgios was fed up with a heckler in the stands at Wimbledon 😅
(via @ChrisHammer180)pic.twitter.com/j5XnPpZWNc
Ms Palus was pulled aside and spoken to by stewards shortly after and escorted out temporarily.
Speaking to reporters, Ms Palus insisted she had only consumed one Pimm’s and a glass of rosé, but did concede that she had forgotten her hat in the heat.
She also emphasised that her intention had only been to support the 27-year-old athelete, not hinder.
She said: “If you think one person saying ‘Come on, you can do it’ is so disturbing that he loses a game… how can he pick up a single fan who is clapping, rooting for him?”
After about 15 minutes, a distraught Ms Palus was permitted back onto Centre Court for the remainder of the match which saw Djokovic defeat Kyrgios 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6.
Speaking after the final, she said: “I understand what it is like to be an underdog so I wanted to give him support.
“Maybe I took it too far so for that I am sorry but I only had good intentions.”
