The sledge that sparked Nick Kyrgios' foul-mouthed spray at fan
Nick Kyrgios’ three set loss to Borna Coric at the Miami Open was a showcase of everything we’ve come to expect from him.
At times, some simply sublime tennis.
There was some absurd behaviour on the sidelines, and, unfortunately, a fiery confrontation with a fan and the chair umpire.
He approached Moscarella to sarcastically congratulate the Italian’s controlling of the match after receiving his point penalty while down game point serving at 2-4 in the deciding set.
Having already been warned for his behaviour, Kyrgios was left fuming.
With the match all but lost, he shook left hands with the official at the ensuing changeover before he continued to berate him during the sit-down.
“Really good job. Well done,” he said.
“You’ve controlled the environment really, really well.”
Kyrgios’s earlier complaints to the umpire about crowd disturbances had fallen on deaf ears.
“You’ve done nothing to keep the fans from yelling out,” he said.
Moscarella said the fans were merely “enjoying themselves” but Kyrgios was unrepentant after the match, taking aim for a second time at his courtside hecklers.
“I played for two hours and 20 minutes, and the guy yells at me: ‘Play some tennis!’
“I’m not going to take it, so I just said ‘F you’ to him.
“Probably not needed but at that time I’d been competing and in the heat of the moment, and it’s not what you want to hear.”
The temperamental Aussie star won the first set, but ultimately crashed to a 4-6 6-3 6-2 fourth-round defeat.
Neither Krygios nor Coric were especially happy throughout the match, with both receiving penalties for smashing their racquets.
Kyrgios, a noted fan of the NBA’s Boston Celtics, handed his smashed racquet to a fan in the crowd who was wearing a Celtics jersey.
