IT will surprise no-one to learn that I have never been in a Wimbledon men’s singles final on account that I am not very good at tennis.
By the same taken, I have also never played at Lords, won The Open or streaked away to win the Olympic 100m final either.
The closest I have ever actually come to Wimbledon is when I spent the day roaming across the nearby Common looking for the Wombles who remained quite elusive.
Maybe they had been seconded to Edinburgh at the time trying in vain to clean the capital’s streets.
One day I will make it to Centre Court, in a spectating capacity only I suspect, and one thing I am sure I will not do is shout at the players during play.
This follows the rather bizarre case of a Polish spectator who incurred the wrath of Aussie player Nick Kyrgios during the men’s final last month.
Kyrgios took exception to Anna Palus shouting encouragement at him and asked the umpire to have her removed.
In Kyrgios’s opinion, she’d had a bit too much to drink, an allegation Miss Palus strenuously denies.
Miss Palus was then politely asked to leave, The All England club don’t throw fans out after all, before being allowed back in to watch the rest of the final.
To be fair to her, Kyrgios has a reputation for his volcanic temper and could easily be distracted by Tobermory the womble dropping a discarded crisp packet into a bin bag on Wimbledon Common as he prepared to serve on Centre Court.
Some players, such as Andy Murray, feed off the crowd, while others like Roger Federer look like they should be checked for a pulse during changeovers given his demeanour.
Support is perfectly acceptable and the Centre Court crowd got Andy Murray through a few tight spots over the years. But Kyrgios is a different kettle of fish altogether and regularly lets matches get away from him due to on court emotional outbursts.
Miss Palus is not the first and will certainly not be the last to be called out by Kyrgios.
Most folk would have taken it on the chin and laughed about it with their friends afterwards.
However, Miss Pulas has instead decided to sue Kyrgios for defamation.
The 32-year-old alleges his outburst caused “me and my family very substantial damage and distress” when it was broadcast and reported worldwide.
She has hired a London-based legal firm to “clear my name” and promised to donate any damages received from the action to a charity.
She said: “Nick Kyrgios made a reckless and entirely baseless allegation against me. I am not litigious, but after much consideration, I have concluded that I have no alternative but to instruct my solicitors.”
“The need to obtain vindication, and to prevent repetition of the allegation, are the only reasons for taking legal action. Any damages recovered will be donated to charity.”
Miss Palus said she had only had two drinks and was merely trying to get behind him – but added that the 29C temperatures had taken its toll on her as she wasn’t wearing a hat.
She added: “I hope that Mr Kyrgios will reflect on the harm he has caused me and my family and offer a prompt resolution to this matter.
“However, if he is unwilling to do this, I am committed to obtaining vindication in the High Court.”
Miss Palus is, of course, quite within her rights to sue Kyrgios and the chances are she will probably win.
But it says a lot about the self-entitlement of many people in the world today that it could end up in court.
Shouting at players during a match is never a good idea and Kyrgios was well within his rights to complain.
He was in his first grand slam final and was already facing Novak Djokovic so the last thing he needed was a spectator irritating him, regardless how well meant the encouragement was.
Golfers regularly get spectators thrown off courses for distracting them. It is their livelihoods after all and spectators should know the rules about when it is acceptable to shout encouragement.
If you step out of line then take it on the chin and move on. Millions of people watch live sport every year and don’t get ejected so when one does then there has to be good reason.
I’m sure Miss Palus wasn’t drunk and Kyrgios may well have over-reacted but that’s besides the point.
He may have lost the match but at least he retained his dignity. I’m not sure that’s the case in reverse.
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