Australian Tennis Star Nick Kyrgios Spits At Fan In Wimbledon, Calls Lineswoman A 'Snitch'

Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios served loads of drama in his first-round match at Wimbledon.

Facing off against Britain's Paul Jubb, the 27-year-old Kyrgios went through a gauntlet of emotion in the close win (6-3, 1-6, 5-7, 7-6 , 5-7).

Kyrgios' highlights on the day included calling a line judge a "snitch," sending a tennis ball into orbit, requesting that a fan get escorted out of The Championships and spitting in the direction of the heckling fan after the match.

He gave a fiery response to the spectator's taunting after his narrow victory over Jubb on Tuesday.

"Today, as soon as I won the match, I turned to him ... I've been dealing with hate and negativity for a long time, so I don't feel like I owed that person anything," Kyrgios stated in a media session.

"He literally came to the match to literally just, like, not even support anyone really," Kyrgios said. "It was more just to stir up and disrespect. That's fine. But if I give it back to you, then that's just how it is."

The tennis star has long been known for his on-court antics and contentious persona.

However, Kyrgios made a surprisingly relevant point when he took a shot at the clout-chasing social media movement that spurs people to do questionable things in public (see, Jackson Mahomes), and might have influenced the heckler to keep going at Kyrgios.

"I love this tournament; it's got nothing to do with Wimbledon," Kyrgios admitted. "I just think it's a whole generation of people on social media feeling like they have a right to comment on every single thing with negativity. It just carries on to real life.

"Because there's a fence there — and I physically can't do anything or say anything because I'll get in trouble — they just feel the need that they're just able to say anything they want."

Kyrgios also delivered a defense for calling the lineswoman a snitch, stating that the judge was making a show out of the non-call.

"I didn't do anything and she went to the umpire and told her something that I didn't say," Kyrgios noted. "She found it relevant to go to run to the umpire at 30-love and make it about her. No one was there to see her today, factually."

The five-set win over Jubb sends Kyrgios (No. 40) to the second round to face off against either No. 26-seeded Filip Krajinovic or Jiri Lehecka.

Follow along on Twitter: @AlejandroAveela