Kyrgios penalised after walking off in Shanghai

TENNIS: Volatile Australian fined and stripped of prize money following incident

Nick Kyrgios has been stripped of his first-round prize money and fined an additional $10,000 after his controversial Shanghai Masters retirement.

The Australian left opponent Steve Johnson and umpire Fergus Murphy baffled when he shook hands and walked off court after losing the first set on a tie-break on Tuesday.

Kyrgios had become increasingly unhappy with Murphy and, after being given a point penalty for an audible obscenity during the tie-break, was heard to say he would quit if he lost the tie-break.

The 22-year-old later blamed a stomach bug but did not seek medical help on court and then went against ATP Tour rules by not having a medical examination following his retirement.

That has resulted in him losing the $21,085 – approximately £16,000 – he would have earned in prize money.

The point penalty followed an earlier warning for smashing two balls angrily out of court, for which Kyrgios has been fined $10,000 for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Explaining his withdrawal, Kyrgios wrote on Twitter: “I want to apologise to the fans in Shanghai and those that watched around the world on TV today.

“I’ve been battling a stomach bug for the last 24 hours and I tried to be ready, but I was really struggling on the court today, which I think was pretty evident from the first point.

“My shoulder started to hurt in the practice today, which didn’t help either, and once I lost the first set I was just not strong enough to continue because I’ve not eaten much for the past 24 hours.”

Kyrgios subsequently withdrew from his second-round doubles match yesterday.

This is the second year in a row where the Australian has found himself in hot water in Shanghai, although his punishment this time is much less severe than 12 months ago.

Kyrgios was fined more than $50,000 and banned from the ATP Tour for a lack of effort in his second-round match against Mischa Zverev, during which he argued with the umpire and fans.

Fabio Fognini meanwhile has been handed an additional fine and a suspended grand slam ban for his verbal abuse of an umpire during the US Open.

The volatile Italian was initially fined $24,000 after he was heard using extremely derogatory and misogynistic language towards Swedish official Louise Engzell during his first-round singles loss in New York.

Fognini was subsequently suspended from the tournament, meaning he was unable to continue in the doubles, after the Grand Slam Board announced it was investigating whether he had committed a major offence.

The world No 28 has been fined an additional $96,000 and banned from two grand slams, one of which must be the US Open.

But both punishments will be reduced if Fognini does not commit another major offence throughout the next two grand slam seasons.

A statement read: “Mr Fognini will not appeal this decision and he has expressed remorse for his admitted misconduct.”