Nick Kyrgios and Stefanos Tsitsipas had to team up after losing their respective opening matches in the singles at the Diriyah Tennis Cup exhibition on Thursday.
As losing players they were placed into four teams for a consolidation doubles draw for the second semi-final of the day on Friday.
This was the third time playing doubles for the tennis stars, 27 and 24.
During that match, Tsitsipas had sent a backhand into the stands, with Kyrgios complaining at the umpire and refusing to resume the match several minutes.
Tsitsipas then called out Kyrgios for being “a bully” followed by Kyrgios saying that his opponent has “serious issues” of psychological nature.
Tsitipas then appeared to spike a ball toward Kyrgios later in the tie, further igniting the animosity between the pair.
When the unlikely draw was announced, Kyrgios tweeted “Doubles with tsitsi tonight”, to which Tsitsipas responded “Who would have thought”.
And while on Twitter it seemed like the duo could set their differences apart for the unlikely doubles match, fans spotted several frozen moments where both avoided looking and speaking to each other.
No 22 and 4 were looking as though they still weren’t on the best terms during one changeover in the second set.
The pairing resulted in defeat by duo Hubert Hurkacz and Dominic Stricker 7-6(3) 7-6(3).
The loss means that both Kyrgios and Tsitsipas are now eliminated from the Diriyah Tennis Cup.
https://twitter.com/steftsitsipas/status/1601200558224072705?s=20&t=XZhSfqPxY5rcKF3PvopV0g
