Nick Kyrgios slams fellow Australian Dawn Fraser as 'racist'
Tuesday 7 July 2015 11:13, UK
Nick Kyrgios has accused Australian Olympic great Dawn Fraser of being "a blatant racist" after she said he and Bernard Tomic should "go back to where their parents came from".
Former swimming champion Fraser made the comments after Kyrgios was criticised for appearing to stop trying during one game in his fourth-round defeat by Richard Gasquet at Wimbledon. She later apologised for her words and denied she was a racist.
The 20-year-old, who denied allegations of giving up in Monday's match, lost 7-5 6-1 6-7 7-6 and could potentially face punishment from the International Tennis Federation over the incident.
His defeat came a couple of days after his compatriot Tomic was dumped from Australia's Davis Cup team for launching a tirade at Tennis Australia officials in the wake of his third round exit at the All-England Club.
However, Fraser, who won three Olympic golds in the 100m freestyle in the 1950s and 1960s, sparked further controversy with her comments to Australian Channel Nine's Today programme.
She moved on from talking about Kyrgios' defeat to the heritage of the Canberra-born player, whose father is from Greece and whose mother was born in Malaysia. Germany-born Tomic moved to Queensland when he was three with his Croatian father and Bosnian mother.
When asked about Kyrgios' behaviour and Tomic's war of words with the governing body, 77-year-old Fraser said: "They should be setting a better example for the younger generation of this country, a great country of ours.
"If they don't like it, go back to where their fathers or their parents came from. We don't need them here in this country if they act like that."
Kyrgios then took to his official Facebook page to lay into Fraser's comments.
He said: "Throwing a racket, brat. Debating the rules, disrespectful. Frustrated when competing, spoilt. Showing emotion, arrogant. Blatant racist, Australian legend."
After denying the comment was racist, Fraser later issued a formal statement of apology.
"I want to unreservedly apologise for any comments that I made this morning which may have caused offence to my fellow Australians, including Nick and his family," she said.
"Australians have a rich sporting heritage made up of individuals from a variety of different countries of origin.
"My intended message, which was not delivered as articulately as it could have been, was on a purely sporting level rather than meant as an attack on Nick's ethnicity.
"Nick's representing Australia and I want to see him representing Australian tennis in the best possible light."
