It was an “eventful” stay at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia for Nick Kyrgios, and it came to an abrupt end on Thursday afternoon.
Kyrgios got defaulted from his second-round match against Casper Ruud after incurring multiple code violations, including one for throwing a chair onto the court. Earlier in the week in a somewhat controversial interview, the 24-year-old gave an interview in which he admitted his disdain–for wide-ranging reasons–for Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Fernando Verdasco.
Although Kyrgios skipped press following his default, he posted the video of his meltdown on Instagram with comments such as “eventful,” “emotions got the better of me,” and that “maybe” he would return to Rome in the future.
The Australian will forfeit ranking points and prize money from the Rome Masters because of his default.
Ruud said afterward that he thinks Kyrgios should be suspended for “at least half a year.” Roger Federer, however, was having none of that.
“I don’t think he should be suspended, personally,” Federer commented. “He walked off the court. What did he do? He hurt a chair? I mean, that’s not enough for me. I don’t know if he’s on probation or not from his Shanghai thing (in 2017) or not. If that’s the case, then obviously you can maybe look into it. If that’s run its course, I don’t think he should be suspended.
“A zero-pointer, fine, all this stuff is already tough enough. He knows it’s a mistake what happened.”
thoughts?
kyrigos is hilarious such a weak mental game, I don’t think he should be suspended is good to have a somebody in the game that u can point to and say that the bad guy!!! anyways good luck to him the kid needs to grow up and look how blessed he is seems like hes another lost soul! good luck to him!
I don’t get where Fed is coming from. How can it be alright to haul a chair onto the court so long as it doesn’t hit anyone? I know the Swiss like to sit on the fence but this is ridiculous. If Fed had said everyone should be treated equally, I would agree. When Djokovic smashed the Perrier bench at the FO in 2012, he wasn’t defaulted, they just replaced the bench. He got a code violation but I don’t think he was even fined. If they suspend Kyrgios for throwing the chair, then they should have suspended Djokovic as well. Maybe that’s what was in the back of Fed’s thinking.
The more they tell Kyrgios he is good for the game, the more outrageous his behaviour would be. Kyrgios calls Rafa a salty loser, yet Kyrgios misbehaves whenever he his losing. Yes, Rafa is a bad loser, he hates it but show me a good loser and I’ll show you a loser.
And to risk being called racist if they suspend/ban the black boy!! Sigh!!!
Sorry, Kyrios is no John MacEnroe!! Give me a break!!!!
I rarely disagree with GOAT, but I’d say suspend Kyrios….he’s just not good for a game that celebrates, usually, great sportsmanship
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUgX4oNu4qw
Yeah, that too was very dangerous! One of those chips hit someone in the eye……what would Novak say then? They treat these ‘professional’ players with kid gloves! We do something remotely close to that at work and off to HR!!!
You may not be able to control your emotions….but you MUST be able to control your behaviour!!!!…..my Mom…..lol!!!
NK hasn’t hurt anyone else – yet. But given enough rope he will hang himself. Most likely his ranking will tank and he’ll be reduced to playing challengers. He just does not have a champion’s temperament and he’s a little long in the tooth for developing that, even if he wants to.
Well, Kyrgios doesn’t hide the fact that he’s a huge Federer fan. I wouldn’t expect Fed to turn on him.
As for whether he deserves to be suspended? I don’t know. He’s a poorly-tempered brat, but I’m not sure tossing a chair around is grounds for a long-term suspension. Of course, it’s not clear to me whether he was DQ’d then left, or whether he left and was consequently DQ’d. If it’s the first, I think the tournament prize money forfeiture is good enough. If he quit first? Suspend him. There is no room for that in professional sports.
I think people feel he should be suspended because he’s a serial offender. The ATP treats him with kid gloves because they are so mindful of preserving the game thro’ the NextGen so they forgive him his bad behaviour. At 25 I’m not sure how useful Kyrgios is going to be in carrying the game forward after the exit of the current top players. He’s been overtaken in relevance by younger players like Tsitsipas, Shapo, Zverev, Coric and others.
I believe he was DQ’ed and then left. He’d simmered down enough to shake hands with Ruud and the umpire on his way out.
From his podcast comments I’d say Nadal’s little speech about him “lacking a bit of respect” and that NK should be competing for important things, I think that got to him. NK did win Acapulco and he tried in IW, losing to Kohlscrieber, after which he threw in the towel again. He’s also clearly eaten up with envy of Djokovic’s hard earned success. Sad sack of a player and DO NOT compare him with Johnny Mac. Mac had a temper, no doubt about it, but he saved it for the umpires, not fellow players, and to my knowledge he never ever tanked a match.
I was thinking the same thing, Ramara. Johnny Mac had a vicious temper, but he LOVED tennis and he wanted to win very, very badly. He would never have lost on purpose.
I actually would love to see Rafa being bad loser even being arrogant a bit, the guys like Kyrgios deserves to be treated that way! But instead Rafa is always so full of praise of his opponents when he loses, he gives them credit with statements how they outperformed him, playing outstanding tennis etc. i loved when he joked about Tsitsipas and I support his reprimands of Kyrios!
Nick should not be suspended IMO, since Djokovic wasn’t or Foggy or many more behaving badly on court…Nick will probably self destruct anyway! It doesn’t seem he will learn from it and by now everyone knows what to expect from the spoiled brat…I feel sorry for him! Such a waste of talent…
Personally, I dont know what the ATP is waiting for to ban Kyrios from the tour! He is a despicable young man and he has no place in the sport!! FULL STOP!
He says Rafa is a salty loser?!! Really, yeah, Rafa gets salty when Kyrios behaves like an A-Hole when he wins a match against somebody like Rafa!! The boy has some serious mental issues!! I’d say Asperger’s!!!! Y are ppl making excuses for him?!! He is very bad for the sport and unless they dont suspend him and send him to anger management classes, Im afraid one day he will hurt somebody, and by then it will be all too late!! I refuse to watch him anymore, after his disgusting and obnoxious outburst a few days ago!!! ATP, please wake up!!!
Im very alarmed Roger is saying not to suspend him! If it were Novak Roger would be saying, yeah, off with his head!! Choops!!!
Mona Lisa
Fed himself would chop off his head. I refuse to watch that POS.
gyros is an immature dick, tennis is tired of his antics.
Kyrgios should be suspended, but tennis should definitely be more consistent. The video of Djokovic destroying the chair is a good example.
Sorry, my comment got cut off. The ATP should send a message to Kygrios that his behaviour is unacceptable. Serial offenders deserve larger penalties, and he definitely qualifies.
How many tickets does he sell? Right now the crowd loves the clown in the circus. As soon as he becomes a business liability, things will change. Until then, continue to watch the antics. From what I have sen over the years, it will be the ATP that changes , not Nick.