Australian Olympic legend launches "racist" attack against Kyrgios

Australian Olympic legend Dawn Fraser launched a surprising "racist" tirade against mercurial Australian tennis player Nick Kyrgios on Tuesday morning.

Speaking to the Nine Network's The Today Show, the four-time Olympic gold medalist and one of Australia's most celebrated national heroes accused the 20-year-old of tanking in the second set of his four set loss to Frenchman Richard Gasquet at Wimbledon on Monday night.

Fraser, 77, suggested that both Kyrgios and 22-year-old fellow tennis player Bernard Tomic were not setting a good example for young Australian athletes and, if they wanted to continue to show attitude problems, they should "go back to where their parents came from".

"It's absolutely disgusting. I am so shocked to think that he went out there to play and he tanked... that's terrible," Fraser said on Tuesday.

"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, born in Canberra, is the son of a Greek-born father and Malaysian-born mother, while Tomic was born in Germany to a Bosnian mother and Croatian father.

Kyrgios immediately hit back on his social media account, labeling Fraser as a "blatant racist".

"Throwing a racket, brat. Debating the rules, disrespectful. Frustrated when competing, spoilt. Showing emotion, arrogant," he wrote on Facebook.

"Blatant racist, Australian legend," he said of Fraser, with a link to a local news article about her comments accompanying the post.

Meanwhile Kyrgios maintained he did not tank during the 7-5 6-1 6-7 (7-9) 7-6 (8-6) loss, blaming momentum swings and poor shot making for the up-and-down affair.

"Of course I tried," Kyrgios said at his press conference.

"There were a lot of ups and downs. It was a tough, tough time, especially when he's not missing any balls."

Kyrgios could be forced to pay a fine if found guilty of tanking as, in the official grand slam rule book, it is written that "a player shall use his best efforts to win a match when competing in a grand slam tournament".

"Violation of this section shall subject a player to a fine up to $20,000 (US dollars) for each violation. For purposes of this rule, the referee and/or the chair umpire shall have the authority to penalize a player in accordance with the point penalty schedule," it reads.

In his press conference, Kyrgios admitted he could have done more to put up more of a fight in the fourth-round match.

"You never want to go out of a Grand Slam. I feel like I definitely could have done better."

The tanking allegations are the latest in a list of controversies to hit Kyrgios at his time in London.

The Australian No. 1 has been warned for using obscene language three times, as he has engaged chair umpires in a disrespectful manner on three separate occasions. Endi