Nick Kyrgios melted down before a defeat yet again. The temperamental Australian shouted obscenities and had a row with the umpire during his 3-6, 5-7 loss to Reilly Opelka at the US Men’s Clay Court Championship in Houston.
Kyrgios was fined a total of $A80,000 during Indian Wells and Miami tourneys and could face a further financial penalty.
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He lost his cool in the semi-final on Saturday and was penalised a point for a second audible obscenity, which cost him a crucial game late in the second set.
He was lucky not to earn another, potentially game and match-losing penalty as he continued to scream out loud “F***!” as he walked back to his seat for the changeover.
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There, Kyrgios continued to harangue the chair umpire Joshua Brace, muttering: “F***** out! How are you not calling it? It’s an absolute joke.”
During the exchange, the clearly flustered Brace admitted: “I believe it now, I made a mistake.”
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It wasn’t the first debate the pair had had over the incident, which happened when Opelka’s return at 30-15 had appeared to go over the baseline but wasn’t called out and Kyrgios went on to lose the point.
“If it is out, then I did miss it,” said the umpire, leaving Kyrgios to tell him sarcastically: “Well, congratulations…”
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For the third tournament in a row, Kyrgios had blown up before bowing out.
Third seed Opelka set up clash with John Isner in Sunday’s final.
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