Beaten Kyrgios hits out at umpire in ill-tempered tirade
● Australian calls match official ‘worst ever’ after three-set loss
Nick Kyrgios lost 6-7 (3), 7-6 (4), 6-2 to Russian Karen Khachanov at the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati, and also lost his temper with the umpire.
The mercurial Australian unleashed a profanity-laced tirade at the chair umpire, Fergus Murphy.
Kyrgios won the opening set despite foot and ankle issues, but after a rant he threw his towel over a camera, forcing the broadcasters to switch to an overhead view.
After Khachanov won the second set, Kyrgios shouted: “The worst f***ing ref ever, the worst ref in the game.
“The worst, hands down. Every time I play he’s doing some stupid sh*t, every time.”
At the end of the match Kyrgios unleashed on Murphy again, saying: “You’re a f***ing tool, bro.”
Kyrgios is likely to face disciplinary action for his outbursts. Khachanov now moves on to the third round and now plays Frenchman Lucas Pouille, who beat Canadian Denis Shapovalov 6-4, 6-4.
Earlier, Alexander Zverev hit 20 double faults in a bruising loss to 19-yearold qualifier Miomir Kecmanovic. The German has had a poor season and this was another low point, Kecmanovic benefiting from his opponent’swaywardserving in a 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-4 victory, his first over a top-ten player.
Thebottomhalfofthedraw is wide open, with fourth seed Kei Nishikori another big name to fall. Nishikori lost an all-japanese clash with Yoshihito Nishioka, who defeated a man he calls his hero 7-6 (2), 6-4 for the biggest victory of his career.
Third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas is in the top half but was not immune to the upsets, recovering from a set and a break down against German Jan-lennard Struff only to lose 6-4, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (6).
Seventh seed Daniil Medvedev continued his good form by beating Benoit Paire 7-6 (2), 6-1, but Stan Wawrinka was ousted 6-4, 6-4 by qualifier Andrey Rublev.
In the women’s singles, Simona Halep beat Ekaterina Alexandrova 3-6, 7-5, 6-4, while top seed Ashleigh Barty beat Maria Sharapova 6-4, 6-1. Sharapova has had a rough time since retiring in the first round at Wimbledon with a forearm injury, and although she reported no physical problems, she said she felt rusty because of the lack of matches due to the injury – something she can fix with practice.
“I have sat in this chair a few times where I haven’t finished the match or I feel like I have a long road ahead of me in terms of recovery with the body, so, yeah, that’s a positive,” she said. “But there’s definitely the repetition, just the feeling of being in a match. It’s very different.”
Naomi Osaka, the No 2 seed, beat Aliaksandra Sasnovich 7-6 (3), 2-6, 6-2, while eighthseeded Sloane Stephens rallied for a 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 win over Yulia Putintseva.