Kyrgios hits out at McEnroe ‘black eye for sport’ remark

Nick Kyrgios was booed by his home crowd and then took a sarcastic swipe at John McEnroe after crashing out of the Australian Open to Italy’s Andreas Seppi.

Kyrgios had been considered an outside contender for the title in Melbourne but the combustible 21-year-old threw away a two-set lead, and squandered a match point, before losing 1-6 6-7 (1/7) 6-4 6-2 10-8 in the second round.

The 14th seed once again faced accusations he was not trying on court as he casually floated shots out and lacked intensity while Seppi was fighting back.

Australian fans in Hisense Arena expressed their disapproval while McEnroe, who has been a heavy critic of Kyrgios’ behaviour in the past, described the performance as a “black eye for the sport”.

“It’s OK to show your emotions and I’d like to see that in a one-on-one game when you’re out there by yourself,” McEnroe said, while commentating for ESPN.

“But when he goes through those periods when he’s not competing, it’s just a black eye for the sport. And it’s a black eye for him.”

Kyrgios argued his effort had been restricted by a knee injury sustained while playing basketball during pre-season and gave short shrift to McEnroe’s assessment.

“My body was sore. I was hurting,” Kyrgios said. “I mean, John McEnroe, was it John McEnroe? Good on him. Great career. Good on him.”

When asked later about the severity of his injury, Kyrgios replied: “Johnny Mack will know, mate. Just talk to him. He knows everything.”

On the Australian crowd’s reaction, Kyrgios added: “Obviously it’s not the greatest thing to hear. I didn’t have the best preparation coming into the Australian Open – pretty banged up, my body.

“I don’t even know what the score was in the end.”

No 14 seed Nick Kyrgios was considered a contender for the title.