Australian tennis player Nick Kyrgios has been embroiled in yet another controversy at the Miami Open after he angrily replied to a fan who allegedly shouted profanities at the athlete, causing a verbal bust-up right on the court.
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One of the most controversial players in the game, Kyrgios failed to finish his third round match against Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic without a scandal. Now the man dubbed ‘tennis’s bad boy’ is among the most discussed athletes at the tournament.
Leading 4-1 up in the opening set, the Aussie star got into a slanging match with a spectator who was allegedly taunting him from the stands.
“Did you get a free ticket? Why are you watching me on a Sunday night?” Kyrgios asked the man.
“You got nothing else for you on a Sunday night? You got nothing else to do on a Sunday night?”
The bitter squabble could have led to a serious delay in the match had it not been for the security staff who interfered, escorting the infuriated fan out of the court.
Kyrgios waved a farewell to the trouble-maker before returning to the match, which he won with a confident score of 6-3 6-1.
Later, the world number 33 explained what caused his on-court fury claiming that the fan called him a “d**k” along with ridiculing his haircut.
“At a change of ends he literally just said, ‘You’re a d**k’,” Kyrgios said. “He said I had a s**tty haircut. And you know what? I haven’t been to a barbershop in a couple of days, so he was pretty right.”
Last week, Kyrgios was slammed by tennis fans and pundits for disrespecting the umpire who officiated at his pairs match against Joao Sousa and Guido Pella.
The Australian lashed out at the chair umpire and broke his racquet after he and his doubles partner, American Taylor Fritz, lost the match in a nail-biting three set-thriller.
“What the f*** is wrong with you? You’re a disgrace. Absolute f***ing disgrace,” Kyrgios yelled at the umpire during his on-court tantrum causing an uproar on social media.
The Aussie was widely criticized for his unsportsmanlike behavior, with many experts calling on Miami Open officials to ban the player.