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Nick Kyrgios has been accused of “misogyny” by fans and journalists following his recent social media controversy.

Kyrgios responded to a social media account that apparently provoked the Australian player with a photo of Kyrgios and his ex-girlfriend Anna Kalinskaya.

Kyrgios replied: “Second serve.”

Although he did not elaborate on what he meant and later deleted the post, Krygios’ comment was interpreted by many social media users as a vulgar remark towards Kalinskaya, who is now dating a new partner, world number one Jannik Sinner.

Tennis journalist Olly Paton of tennismajors.com tweeted an image of Kyrgios’ post along with the words: “Kyrgios on Kalinskaya (who is Nick’s ex-girlfriend and Sinner’s current partner)” and a facepalm emoji.

Kyrgios replied: “Right… so I’m the bad guy for saying something about it? I never mentioned it lol. Don’t be offended if people mention it. Simple.”

US broadcaster Jon Wertheim posted on X: “Nick Kyrgios once made a misogynistic, completely inappropriate comment about a WTA player, drawing the ire of her ATP player boyfriend, his coach and much of the dressing room… but he faced no real consequences as he dismissed it as a youthful indiscretion. That was in 2015. He is now 29.”

Tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg tweeted: “Honestly, I’m a little surprised ESPN didn’t pull Nick Kyrgios from the program midway through the #USOpen final after his recent derogatory tweet about a WTA player went viral. Given his history of denigrating women, women’s tennis, and WTA players, hiring him was a questionable decision.”

Another X user said: “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.”

ESPN has not commented on Kyrgios’ role.

Another user accused Kyrgios of being “insulting,” to which he replied: “Insulting? What is offensive about what I said? I had no intention of saying anything. People want to go there and live with the consequences.”

Kyrgios had already spoken out openly against Sinner last month, saying that the Italian should have been banned from tennis because small traces of the banned performance-enhancing drug clostebol had been found in his body.

Kyrgios – who escaped conviction last year after admitting to assaulting his ex-girlfriend – sharply criticised the Sinner ruling.

“Ridiculous – whether it was accidental or planned. You get tested twice for a banned substance… You should be gone for two years. Your performance was better,” Kyrgios said on X.

Sinner, who will play against American Taylor Fritz in the US Open final on Sunday night, was cleared of any wrongdoing by an independent tribunal that accepted his explanation of accidental contamination by a physiotherapist.

Last week, Sinner said he would like to put bygones behind him if he could personally face Kyrgios on the court in an interview in his role as commentator.

“I don’t want to respond to what he said. Anyone can say anything, so it’s OK,” Sinner said. “If that’s the case, we’ll see. It will be different for sure, but I don’t know.”

“I don’t know what to say. Maybe if I say something now, the reaction will be different because you live in the moment. But I’m always pretty relaxed. I’m someone who forgets things pretty quickly. As I said, everyone is completely free to say anything, so it is what it is.”