Tennis: Unfriendly fire as Wawrinka, Kyrgios clash

Stan Wawrinka admits that he and Nick Kyrgios are far from being friends as they prepare to meet for the first time since the Australian's sex slur against the French Open champion's girlfriend.

Wawrinka and Kyrgios face-off in the Dubai semi-finals later Friday, six months after their match in Montreal saw Kyrgios make crude remarks concerning the Swiss star's girlfriend Donna Vekic, a Croatian WTA professional.

Kyrgios was handed a suspended 28-day ban and $25,000 fine.

"He's a tennis player, I'm a tennis player. We are not friends, for sure. We don't go for dinner together. But there is nothing else," said Wawrinka.

"We see each other on the Tour every week almost. That's it.

"For me now to play him it's a good challenge. He's playing his best tennis. He won last week. He's full of confidence. It's going to be really tough." Kyrgios, ranked 33rd and who won his maiden title in Marseille last weekend, said last August's controversy is history.

"Since the incident, I think we've both moved on," said Kyrgios.

"We played on the same team in the IPTL (International Premier Tennis League). That was actually really good. I got to know him a little bit more.

"He played great there. He's one of the best players in the world, no doubt." The other semi-final sees Spain's Feliciano Lopez face veteran Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis.

Lopez made the last-four when world number one Novak Djokovic pulled out of their quarter-final on Friday after dropping the first set, suffering from an eye infection.

"It's very sad when you play against one of the best players in the history of the sport and he has to retire the way he did," Lopez said.

"I had no idea before the match, he told me he had an infection in the eyes since a few days already."