The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Ban of at least three weeks for Kyrgios
Nick Kyrgios has been suspended from tennis for at least three weeks following his controversial exit from the Shanghai Masters last week.
The Australian admitted he “took the easy way out” after appearing to give up in a 6-3 6-1 defeat to qualifier Mischa Zverev in the second round.
On several occasions Kyrgios patted down tame serves or even just wandered off court while the rally was still going on.
He was fined $16,500 on Thursday, and has now been fined a further $25,000 in addition to the suspension.
Kyrgios, who also clashed verbally with a spectator during the match, is officially banned for eight weeks but this will be reduced to three providing he undergoes a remedial course.
An ATP statement read: “Following the completion of its investigation into Nick Kyrgios’ second-round match last week at the Shanghai Rolex Masters, the ATP has announced that Kyrgios has been found to have committed the player major offence ‘Conduct Contrary to the Integrity of the Game’.
“The offence means that Kyrgios receives an additional fine of $25,000 and is suspended from ATP tournaments for eight tournament weeks, effective from today through to Sunday January 15 2017.
“However, the suspension will be reduced to three tournament weeks upon agreement that the player enters a plan of care under the direction of a sports psychologist, or an equivalent plan approved by ATP, meaning Kyrgios could regain eligibility to compete on the ATP World Tour or Challenger Tour from Monday November 7 2016.
“Today’s announcement completes the ATP’s investigation into this matter which, following the conclusion of the on-site process, included further review of the match as well as comments made during Kyrgios’ post-match press conference.”