Kyrgios hurls shoes away in Indian Wells meltdown

Nick Kyrgios threw his shoes away in disgust after suffering a meltdown in his shock second round Indian Wells defeat.

The Aussie firebrand crashed out in straight sets against Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber on Sunday morning (AEDT), but not before a customary blow up from the 23-year-old.

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Kyrgios went a break down against the German in the opening set, before slipping at a crucial moment in the tenth game as his opponent looked to serve out the set.

The mishap allowed Kohlschreiber to win the point, prompting a fiery outburst from Kyrgios, who smashed his racquet into the court in disgust.

Moments later, the German served it out to clinch the opening set, as a clearly frazzled Kyrgios made his way angrily back to his chair.

The Aussie – obviously disgusted with the shoes that had so publicly failed him – tossed both sneakers into the grateful arms of a crowd member.

Fans certainly found the Aussie’s antics amusing on social media.

Kyrgios’ mindset appeared to be all over the place as he raced through the second set on serve.

However, the quick-fire tactic backfired as his opponent took another crucial break.

Kyrgios left commentators in shock after wrapping up the ninth game of the second set in just 38 seconds on his own serve to pull himself back to 5-4.

However, Kohlschreiber proved faultless on his own serve as he breezed through the the next round with a 6-4 6-4 win.

Kyrgios was an overwhelming favourite to advance from his meeting with Kohlschreiber but the German veteran proved too consistent in the one hour and 14 minute victory.

A keenly-fought opening set went the way of Kohlschreiber after a slip by Kyrgios, who had kept his emotions in check, cost him a chance to break serve in the 10th game.

Kyrgios trashing his racquet in frustration as he complained to his team about the “sample” shoes that he eventually hurled into the crowd.

Another Aussie sent packing from Indian Wells

Fellow Aussie Alex De Minaur, who like Kyrgios had a first-round bye, was upset by world No.217 Marcos Giron earlier on Saturday.

De Minaur scorched through the first set but American qualifier Giron swung the momentum his way against the 23-seeded Australian to prevail 1-6 6-4 6-2.

Playing in just his fourth ATP tournament, Southern Californian Giron claimed just the third, and biggest, tour-level win of his career against the 20-year-old de Minaur.

Giron, 25, will be a heavy underdog when he faces Canadian 13th seed Milos Raonic, who pounded down 18 aces to send American Sam Querrey packing 7-6 (7-1) 6-4.

De Minaur wasn’t the only seeded player to crash out in the second round as teenager Felix Auger-Aliassime stunned Greek ninth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4 6-2 to record his first top-10 scalp and Croatian veteran Ivo Karlovic ousted 11th-seeded countryman Borna Coric 6-4 7-6 (7-2).

The Canadian 18-year-old Auger-Aliassime, the youngest player in the top 100, overcame 20-year-old Tsitsipas, the youngest player in the 10, for the fourth time – after three encounters in the juniors.

France’s revitalised Gael Monfils outlasted Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer 6-4 3-6 6-3 to set up a match with Spaniard Albert Ramos Vinolas, who upset 15th-seeded Italian Marco Cecchinato 6-4 6-2.

With AAP