Nick Kyrgios and Controversies go hand in hand. The Australian has never been too far away from controversies since joining the ATP Tour. He has a history of poor behaviour and violating the code of conduct on and off the court. The 24-year-old has been fined and suspended several times in his career.
Kyrgios has been involved in many altercations with the umpires, his opponents and even with the spectators. There have been so many cases of his outbursts and disrespect for the officials. Kyrgios has been labelled as the modern time John Mcenroe who did not win a grand slam title.
Chaseyoursport has compiled a list of all the major controversial moments of Nick Kyrgios-
1. Nearly disqualified in US Open 2014
Nick Kyrgios made history by upsetting Rafael Nadal in the fourth round of the US Open 2014. However, the 2014 edition of US Open is also remembered for Nick's outburst in the first round against Mikhail Youzhny. The Australian was handed three warnings during the match. Another warning could have seemed him disqualified from the tournament.
There were various instances of audible abuse from Kyrgios. He was also seen smashing racquet into the ground. This was undoubtedly the breakthrough event for the Australian but he had also displayed some of his frustrated gestures on the court.
2. Sledging Stan Wawrinka at Rogers Cup 2015
Nick Kyrgios had a war of words with Stan Wawrinka at the Rogers Cup 2015. Kyrgios sledged Wawrinka in a very ugly and disrespectful way. The Australian told Stan that his fellow compatriot Thanasi Kokkinakis had 'banged your girlfriend'.
Stan Wawrinka was the fans favourite at the Rogers Cup and Kyrgios' comments were heavily scrutinize. ATP fined Nick Kyrgios US$10,000, which went on to increase to US$25,000 following a second offence. He was also handed a 28-days suspension from the tour.
Stan Wawrinka wrote on Twitter, " So disappointing to see a fellow athlete and colleague be so disrespectful in a way I could never ever imagine."
3. Abusing the Chair Umpire at Wimbledon 2015
Nick Kyrgios used inappropriate language against the Chair Umpire in the first round against Diego Schwartzman at the Wimbledon 2015. Kyrgios came down with some serious curses after hitting a poor shot. The linesman went and complained about this to the chair umpire. He went to the chair umpire and said, "What did he say to you? Does it feel good to be up there in that chair? Does it make you feel strong?" Kyrgios later apologized for his comments.
4. Violation of the code of conduct at Wimbledon 2015
Nick Kyrgios was up against Milos Raonic at the Wimbledon 2015. He was handed with a code violation after he threw his racquet so hard in frustration that the racquet hit the ground and flew over the court barriers into a spectator. The Australian also said something to the female spectator who allegedly told him, "pull your head in". Kyrgios claimed that she had no idea what it was like to play professional tennis.
5. More trouble in Wimbledon 2015
Kyrgios had been in the headlines at the Wimbledon 2015 for one after the other controversies. The Australian was once again involved in a controversy. Kyrgios was up against Richard Gasquet in the fourth round at the All England Club. Nick Kyrgios appeared to be not interested in playing the match after being 1 set down and trailing 2-0 in the second set. He was undoubtedly tanking as he did not even try to return Gasquet's serve. The crowd was booing over his giving up attitude in the match. He even suggested his coaching box to leave.
6. More interested in Pokemon Go than Tennis
Nick Kyrgios has always been active on Twitter. Once in 2016, he took the twitter to show his love for the trending Pokemon Go game. A series of tweet suggested that Kyrgios was more interested in playing Pokemon Go than tennis. The tweets did not go well with the audience as he was harshly criticized for his tweets. A tweet suggested that he enjoyed hatching a Pokemon Go egg more than winning a breakpoint. One of his tweets said, "just quietly, how good is Pokemon Go. Honestly been playing more than tennis."
7. Meltdown at Cincinnati Masters 2016
Nick Kyrgios showcased his frustration at the Cincinnati Masters 2016 during his match against Borna Coric. Kyrgios first smashed one racquet, then other and did not stop there as he smashed his third racquet. Kyrgios showed his anger after losing the first set tiebreaker. He took the racquets from his seat and smashed them into the court, one after the other. He lost the match 7-6, 4-6, 7-6.
8. Fined after the Shanghai Masters 2016
Nick Kyrgios was booed by the audience several times during his loss against Mischa zverev 6-3, 6-1. Kyrgios was involved in a verbal clash against a spectator during his match. Kyrgios received an additional fine of US$25,000 for his unsportsmanlike conduct and an effortless match. He was also handed with a suspension of eight weeks. Kyrgios could not compete for the rest of the season following the suspension. At one point of the time he asked the umpire, " can you call time so I can finish this match and go home."
9. Yelling at a ball boy at French Open 2016
Nick Kyrgios was warned at the Roland Garros 2019 for shouting at a ball boy. Kyrgios shouted "towel" to the ball boy. carlos Ramos warned the Australian in an aggressive tone.
While Nick Kyrgios defended his behavior on the court. He said, “I thought it was a little bit rough. Obvi, only it was just his personal opinion on how he thought that I went about it, but, I mean, it is what it is.”
“I think, you know, every time I get a towel from a ball kid I say thank you.”
“Sometimes when you’re a bit frustrated you do, you know, not scream at them but you do get a little mad at them. I didn’t get mad at all. I just said it a little bit loud."
10. Retirement from Shanghai Open 2017
Nick Kyrgios hadn't had the best of the times in Shanghai. Once again drama unfolded at the Shanghai Open. In the first round match against Steve Johnson, he retired from the match without giving a reason. He didn't show any apparent health or injury reasons for retiring. He had warned the umpire that he would quit the match if he loses the tiebreaker as he was penalized with a point during the tiebreaker. He was fined $10,000 for unsportsmanlike conduct and also had to give $21,085 prize money.
11. Water bottle sex act - Queen's Championship
Nick Kyrgios was fined with 15000 Euros for making unpleasant gestures with the bottle during a match at the Queens championship in London.
During the semifinals match against Marin Cilic, Nick Kyrgios was seen playing with the bottle and spraying and shaking the water from the bottle. He was seeing someone at his player's box while playing with the bottle.
Kyrgios later apologized for his gesture. He said, "Let’s get that water bottle thing clear — It was bad and I shouldn’t have done it with kids watching so make sure you put it in the article."
My girlfriend will kill me if I don’t apologize and it was unacceptable “But Denis Shapovalov gets fined $5k for hitting an umpire in the eye and sending him to hospital. I get fined $15k for playing with a water bottle.”
12. One more row at Shanghai Masters 2018
Nick Kyrgios and Shanghai Masters have a long history of controversies. The Australian had a lengthy argument with the chair umpire in the last edition of the Shanghai Open. The Chair Umpire said Kyrgios during the match that a point in the match was "really borderline", suggested that it was a lack of effort.
Kyrgios replied, “I don’t care. You have no right to tell me that it’s poor”.
He then sarcastically asked the chair umpire after serving an ace, " was that borderline."
13. Throwing chair on the court
Kyrgios in a heated moment kicked the water bottle on the court and smashed the racquet into the red-clay. The Australian did not stop there and hurled the foldable chair to the center to the court.
Kyrgios was then fined 20,000 Euros for unsportsmanlike conduct and also gave up his prize money. In addition, he also forfeited the 45 ranking points he earned during the tournament and was told to cover the costs of his hospitality.
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