KYRGIOS SERVES UP A FARCE
NICK KYRGIOS could be hit with a substantial fine after he suffered an astonishing meltdown and threw away his second-round match at the Shanghai Rolex Masters. Just three days after winning the biggest title of his career, at the Japan Open in Tokyo, the Aussie bad boy’s effort was pitiful as he lost 6-3, 6-1 to German qualifier Mischa Zverev in just 48 minutes. Kyrgios then blasted the Chinese crowd, who had loudly booed him for his lack of effort. The 21-year-old said: ‘They don’t know what I’m going through, so I don’t understand it. I don’t owe them anything. It’s my choice. If you don’t like it, I didn’t ask you to watch. Just leave.’ It became apparent early on that Kyrgios was not interested in playing to his full capabilities. One serve was tapped over the net and left for Zverev to swat away as Kyrgios turned and walked to his courtside chair. Umpire Ali Nili saw fit to issue a lecture, saying: ‘Nick, you can’t play like that. It’s just not professional. This is a professional tournament.’ Kyrgios later told Nili: ‘Can you call time so I can finish this match and go home?’ The match descended into farce towards the end when Kyrgios delayed proceedings to argue with a fan who had heckled him. He said: ‘You wanna come here and play? Sit down, shut up and watch.’ Asked after the match if he wanted to qualify for the ATP World Tour Finals in London, Kyrgios replied: ‘I couldn’t care less, to be completely honest with you.’ He later admitted he had ‘tapped out a little bit’ and posted on Twitter: ‘Not good enough today on many levels, I’m better than that. I can go on about excuses but there are none. Sorry.’ Andy Murray has no such issues with motivation as he chases the world No 1 ranking. The Brit comfortably beat Steve Johnson 6-3, 6-2 in his Shanghai opener and insisted afterwards that he is taking no notice of Novak Djokovic’s comments that retaining top spot is not a priority for him. Murray, who plays Frenchman Lucas Pouille today, said: ‘I’m aware that if I want to get to the No 1 ranking I need to win a lot of matches. It doesn’t just happen because Novak said