Australian star Paul Job defeated home favorites 3-6, 6-1, 7-5, 6-7 (3-7), 7-5 in an entertaining match, but he felt a fan crossed the mark in his harassment.
After winning match point, Kyrgios turned toward one of the stands and spat on the ground as he made his way into the net.
When a reporter asked him if he had spat in that fan’s direction, Kyrgios replied, “Yes, from someone who doesn’t respect me. I wouldn’t do that to someone who was supporting me.”
“I’m fine to receive a lot of them [heckling]. What I don’t understand is that once he brought the ball back, for example in Stuttgart I took him back, and I got a penalty.
“Once 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 owe this person anything.”
“He came to the match literally to not really support anyone. It was more just for excitement and disrespect.”
Kyrgios said earlier this month that he was racially abused by a member of the crowd at a tournament in Stuttgart, which organizers said they were investigating.
The Australian said he was not subjected to racist abuse on Tuesday, but was concerned about repeated abuse by fans.
“I’m just starting to think this is normal when it really isn’t,” he told reporters. “I didn’t say anything to the audience until they started every time I was to the far end. I don’t know if this is normal or not.
“It has nothing to do with Wimbledon. I think it’s a whole generation of people who, like on social media, feel like they have the right to comment on everything negatively. It’s just transitioning to real life.”
“Because there’s a fence in there and I can’t physically do anything or say anything because I’m going to get in trouble, so they just feel like they can say anything they want.”
This wasn’t the only flash point in the match, as Kyrgios was also unhappy with the line judge’s call over a point in the opening set.
He later said during his press conference that the referees at Wimbledon should be younger because “younger people have better eyesight”.
Kyrgios is scheduled to play doubles with Thansi Kokinakis on Wednesday, before continuing his singles campaign against 26th seed Filip Krajinovic on Thursday.
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