Calm turns to storm for fiery Kyrgios
WASHINGTON Nick Kyrgios seemed to have set himself on a slightly healthier and certainly more productive path this month at the Citi Open in Washington.
Sure, he smashed rackets, blasted a ball out of the stadium in frustration and hurled invective at umpires (even calling one a “potato with legs and arms”), but he also won the tournament, defeating two top-10 opponents along the way.
Afterward, he seemed to display a new-found serenity, a condition that has eluded the 24-year-old over the course of his tumultuous career.
“This has been one of the best weeks of my life — not just on the court, but in my life,” he told reporters. “I feel like I’ve made major strides.
“A lot of habits needed to change.
“I just had a lot of unhealthy habits and it was starting to show on the tennis court. It was too up and down. It wasn’t healthy.”
But Kyrgios’s new-found calm lasted barely more than a week as he fell apart Wednesday night during a second-round loss to No. 8 seed Karen Khachanov at the Cincinnati Masters. After coming back to take the first set in a tiebreaker, Kyrgios came unglued in the second when chair umpire Fergus Murphy (the same one he likened to a human potato in Washington) gave him a warning about taking too much time between serves.
Between games, Kyrgios unloaded on Murphy about how Rafael Nadal never gets warned about the time he takes between serves.
In the third set, Kyrgios received a code violation after calling Murphy “the worst f------ referee ever” and then asked for a bathroom break.
He proceeded to smash two rackets in a hallway, (but did not appear to use the facilities).
Eventually he received another time violation warning while re-gripping his next racket.
Kyrgios didn’t appear to exert much effort in that third set, which he lost 6-2, and after an awkward embrace with Khachanov at the net he had more words for Murphy and appeared to spit in his general direction.
On Thursday, the ATP fined Kyrgios US$113,000 for unsportsmanlike conduct, verbal abuse and leaving the court during Wednesday’s match.
The tour also said it’s investigating whether “additional action is warranted under the Player Major Offense section of the code,” which could result in an additional fine and/or a suspension.