Seeing Dawn Fraser honoured on the Queen’s Birthday with a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC), Nick Kyrgios couldn't sit there and bite his tongue.
The Australian tennis star revived a feud with his old enemy, calling the swimming legend a racist as he revisited a heated piece of history between the pair.
Celebrating the award on Channel Seven's Sunrise, Fraser spoke with ecstasy.
MORE: When is Nick Kyrgios playing next?
“I’m so very grateful that I’m Australian and I’ve been given this honour by the Governor-General, it’s just absolutely fantastic,” Fraser said.
But Kyrgios quickly wiped the smile off her face, retweeting the interview with a condemning message: “Racist tho”.
Racist tho https://t.co/0DJRoNB5PH
— Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) June 11, 2018
In 2015, Fraser kicked off the exchange with a insensitive spray directed at Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic, telling them to “go back to where their fathers or parents came from”.
Her fury was in response to Kyrgios' quarterfinal elimination from Wimbledon at the hands of Richard Gasquet where he received a code violation for swearing and rowing with the umpire over his socks.
“They should be setting a better example for the younger generation of this country, a great country of ours,” Fraser told The Today Show.
“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 was quick to defend himself, indirectly referring to Fraser in a since deleted tweet.
“Throwing a racket, brat. Debating the rules, disrespectful. Frustrated when competing, spoilt. Showing emotion, arrogant. Blatant racist, Australian legend,” he wrote.
But Fraser denied her comments were racist, apologising for the way Kyrgios interpreted it.
“I’m not a racist person, if you take it that way then I’m sorry that you take it that way, but I’m not racist at all,” she told Fairfax Media.
And so it continues.
Returning to the grass courts, Nick Kyrgios will compete in the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart on Tuesday.
Kyrgios has been out of action for the past few months with an elbow injury, forcing him to withdraw from the French Open.
He returned last month, teaming up with American Jack Sock to claim the doubles title in Lyon.
