Two of the top journalists in tennis have accused Nick Kyrgios of making a “misogynistic, wildly inappropriate comment” about women’s tennis star and his ex-girlfriend Anna Kalinskaya. The Aussie tennis star sparked mass outrage online on Sunday morning with a two-word reply to a photo that showed him and Kalinskaya that was taken some four years ago.

Kyrgios responded to the photo on X by writing “second serve”, which many fans interpreted as being a misogynistic swipe at World No. 1 Jannik Sinner‘s current partner Kalinskaya. The 29-year-old has not elaborated on his comment, however, has been critical of Sinner in recent months, calling for him to be banned after the Italian’s doping violation was made public last month.

Sinner tested positive for an anabolic steroid in March, but the International Tennis Agency accepted he did not willingly take the substance and was therefore not suspended. Kyrgios publicly called for Sinner to face punishment, igniting a feud between the tennis rivals.

The pair’s history is something regularly brought up with Kyrgios previously dating Sinner’s now-girlfriend, Russian tennis star Kalinskaya. Kyrgios and Kalinskaya split in May of 2020 and the World No.15 started dating Sinner earlier this year and has been a regular in his box at the US Open matches.

Due to Kyrgios’ latest swipe at Sinner over the doping violation, the Italian star’s fans have been sending a barrage of negative comments to Kyrgios on Twitter and Instagram. But the abuse took a nasty turn on Sunday morning when the Aussie clapped back. A fan tagged Kyrgios in a tweet that showed him and Kalinskaya at an NBA game back in 2020. And Kyrgios “second serve” reply went down like a lead balloon.

The Aussie tennis star was immediately called out for his comment as fans demanded his current employer ESPN remove him from his duties providing expert commentary at the US Open. “Disgusting, Kyrgios continues to show his true nature. Well done ESPN,” one fan wrote. While another added: “ESPN, Kyrgios is a misogynist. His tennis career is over and he has no respect for the players or the game. Get rid of him”.

Amid the surging backlash Kyrgios took to X to write: “Don’t you think it’s hilarious how quickly people get triggered with a couple words or emojis…. Too much power.” While it is not clear what his ‘second serve’ remark referenced exactly, fans quickly drew a link between it and his infamous swipe about Donna Vekic.

In that instance, in the middle of a match against the Croatian star’s boyfriend Stanislas Wawrinka, Kyrgios quipped “Kokkinakis banged your girlfriend”, referring to his doubles partner and fellow Aussie tennis star Thanasi Kokkinakis. And fans believe he hasn’t learnt from his previous misogynistic comments.

But Kyrgios responded to the further anger directed at him, taking aim at tennis fans by saying if they want to go there they have to “deal with the consequences”. Responding to a critical journalist on X, Kyrgios wrote: “Right… so I’m the one that’s the bad guy for saying something about it. I never brought it up lol. Don’t take offence if people are gonna bring it up. Simple.”

Another X user responded to that comment writing: “You truly don’t understand what abusive language and respect is towards another human being?” To which Kyrgios defended his actions saying: “Abusive? What’s abusive about what I said? I had no intention to say anything about it. People wanna go there and deal with the consequences.” And tennis fans have demanded he be yanked off air ahead of the US Open men’s final.