Nick Kyrgios launched a foul-mouthed rant at the umpire during his defeat at the ATP Toronto Masters. The Australian lost in the round to American Riley Opelka in three tight sets, 6-4, 6-7, 6-4 last night.
The match did not conclude without any controversy as the 25-year-old began a verbal tirade, insisting his opponent’s foot touched the net with the second set tiebreak level at 4-4.
Kyrgios yelled: “What are you watching? I saw his foot touch the net and you’re not going to call it.
“What else could you be watching, bro? I can see his foot touch the net from where I am, and you don’t call anything. It’s a joke, bro. It cost me the f–king set. Bulls–t.”
He was jeered by the crowd and even sent a ball flying into the stands after he stopped protesting.
Kyrgios then double-faulted on set point to hand the second set to Opelka, who stayed cool and calm throughout his opponent’s heated exchange with the official.
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Commenting on the incident from his point of view, the world number 32 said: “Yeah that 5-4 point I guessed right and clocked the forehand and made it a difficult situation for him and then 6-4 he was a little frustrated.
“A guy like that, he returns so well, I thought he was going to make me serve for it but I got lucky, he was a little flustered.”
The 23-year-old fired 22 aces to Kyrgios’ 16 and produced 18 forehand winners on his way to winning the match.
He lost just six points behind his booming first serve and faced only two break points.
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Opelka faces another tough test and he is set to battle former ATP finals champion Grigor Dimitrov in the next round.
As for Kyrgios, he seems to be at a career crossroads as he gave a candid assessment of how he feels when he takes to the court at the moment.
“I’m not feeling the severity of certain points, and I don’t feel the pressure as much as obviously playing week in, week out,” he said after an opening-round loss at the Citi Open to Mackenzie McDonald last week.
“You feel when you kind of have to press, when you kind of have to relax, when you kind of coast, when you kind of push.
“I don’t really feel like my body and my mind quite understand the severity of some points here or there because I haven’t played that much.
“I know that I’m going to be dealing with a lot of s–t now on social media. Like, my head’s in the shed, to be honest. I don’t know, I didn’t play great.”
