Kyrgios barks, mocks his way at Australian Open
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA — Love him or hate him and
— make no mistake, there are plenty in each camp Nick Kyrgios never allows for a dull moment when he’s on a tennis court, whether it’s shot selection, showmanship, momentum swings, barking at his entourage or mocking another player not even involved in the match at hand.
All of the above happened during his ever-eventful 6-2, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 victory over Gilles Simon in the Australian Open’s second round Thursday.
That included a moment when Kyrgios — currently on six months’ probation from the ATP for verbally abusing tennis officials — poked fun at the man he might meet in the fourth round, Rafael Nadal. After being warned for taking more than the allotted 25 seconds between serves, Kyrgios mimicked how Nadal fidgets before a point, as if to remind the chair umpire that there are folks who more egregiously waste time.
When a reporter asked Nadal about Kyrgios’ imitation of the 19-time major champion, the Spaniard replied: “I really don’t care. I’m here to play tennis.”
About the only boring segment of the proceedings came during the in-stadium interview, when an allusion was made to later rounds and Kyrgios, an Australian seeded 23rd, told the Melbourne Arena crowd, “I’m not thinking ahead . ... I’m just taking it one match at a time at the moment.”
No. 1-seeded Nadal won 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-1 over Federico Delbonis.
Among the noteworthy winners were U.S. Open runner-up Daniil Medvedev, who took a medical timeout because of a nosebleed in the second set of his 7-5, 6-1, 6-3 win over qualifier
Pedro Martinez, along with two-time French Open finalist Dominic Thiem, No. 7 Alexander Zverev, No. 10 Gael Monfils and a trio of women who have been ranked No. 1 and own Grand Slam titles: Simona Halep, Angelique Kerber and Garbiñe Muguruza.
Nothing captivated a crowd quite like Kyrgios did against Simon, 35, who is ranked 61st. Not all for good reasons, though.
Yes, Kyrgios delighted the fans with his between-thelegs shots and his booming serves — to the tune of 28 aces, including one at 136 mph to end the match.
During the changeover before the fourth set, Kyrgios expressed his displeasure with the sort of support he was getting from his group in the audience — which included former No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt — sarcastically huffing: “So creative. So creative. So creative. Out of all the things you could say: ‘Stay tough.’ Thanks, man. Thanks. ‘Stay tough.’ That’s what I get. Every break point: ‘Stay tough.’ Wow. Wow. Wow.”
Kyrgios later described himself with a vulgar term for that reaction and said he apologized to his entourage in the locker room.
“They don’t deserve that. They do a lot of things for me, on and off the court,” he said. “No, it’s not acceptable from me. Nothing to do with them.”