Nick Kyrgios draws Rafael Nadal into Cincinnati meltdown

Nick Kyrgios dragged his old nemesis Rafael Nadal into an extraordinary blow-up at the Cincinnati Masters that has been condemned by tennis fans.

The Aussie has a history of bad blood with Nadal, stemming from a controversial match in Mexico earlier in the year where the Spaniard accused the 24-year-old of disrespect.

BAN HIM: Fans call for Kyrgios punishment after latest controversy

A war of words (of sorts) between the two players ensued, with Nadal's uncle Toni also chastising Kyrgios for his attitude towards the sport.

To say Kyrgios and Nadal aren't exactly friends would be putting it lightly.

Perhaps it was no surprise that during his Cincinnati Masters meltdown against Karen Khachanov, the Aussie's thoughts turned towards the Spaniard after being pinged for a time violation on his serve by chair umpire Fergus Murphy.

Kyrgios fumed: “That’s hilarious, if Rafa plays that quick I’m retiring from tennis. Absolute rubbish … disgrace.

“Get me some footage of Rafa playing that quick, that game. If you can find any of that I’ll shut my mouth and never speak again.

The angry outburst was easily one of the tamest exchanges from Kyrgios during a match that was punctuated by a defiant double racquet smash, vulgar language and spitting towards the chair umpire.

The final set was close to farce, with Kyrgios engaged in a running dialogue with the Irish chair umpire - before crashing out 6-7 (3/7), 7-6 (7/4) 6-2.

Kyrgios, who won his sixth career ATP singles crown two weeks ago in Washington, also complained last week in Toronto in an apparent dispute as to why he could not have a white towel during a match.

World number 27 Kyrgios, rarely far from controversy, was defaulted three months ago after throwing a chair as he quit a match in Rome.

Kyrgios implodes after second set tiebreak

The latest iteration of the Kyrgios saga erupted after he lost the second set to Khachanov.

Sitting in his chair at the pause, Kyrgios suddenly announced he was going on a bathroom break, with Murphy telling him there was no time.

The Aussie walked anyway, carrying two racquets with him. Television showed him going through a stadium door partly made of glass and smashing his racquets before collecting them and walking back onto court.

All the while, he was nagging and occasionally cursing at Murphy.

Kyrgios calmly held his own at the start of the final set, producing a hold which featured three aces.

But it was the ice-calm Khachanov who took advantage, breaking for 4-2 and running out to a 5-2 margin.

Kyrgios, by now hardly in the match, double-faulted to hand over two match points and served up another double after saving a first match point.

"He has a really great talent but sometimes the head not in the right place," Khachanov said.

"It was a really difficult match for me -- I had to really work it out, how to get the win.

"It's really tough (playing Kyrgios), not only for me but for everybody. You have to try and handle it, then you can have chances to win the match. Always try to stay in there."

He refused to shake Murphy's hand on the way off court and tossed his shoes and other soft articles into the crowd and handing his broken racquets to young fans before walking off.

At one point in the drama, Kyrgios stood at the back of the court, wrapping his racquet grip, which Murphy kept telling him he was not ready.

Kyrgios told Khachanov to go ahead and serve, but the Russian declined until all was in place on the Kyrgios side of the net.

Tournament supervisor Gerry Armstrong sat near the court, observing, but was not called upon to make any ruling during the bizarre closing stages of the evening.

Khachanov will play Frenchman Lucas Pouille in Thursday's third round.

With AFP