Nick Kyrgios calls out French Open player after 'horrible' act
Nick Kyrgios has issued an ironic response on social media after a racquet-throwing incident at the French Open that left a little boy in tears.
Controversy erupted at Roland Garros on Thursday when Romanian player Irina-Camelia Begu inadvertently flung her racquet into the crowd in frustration.
RAISING THE STAKES: Tomic's $1 million move amid ugly Kyrgios feud
'SAD TO SEE': Fans left shattered over Simona Halep drama
'AN INSULT': Wimbledon's huge move after Ash Barty 'disgrace'
Begu had just gone down a break in the deciding third set against 30th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova when she threw her racquet and watched in horror as it bounced into the crowd.
Begu didn't throw the racquet particularly hard but it bounced off the clay and into the first few rows of the stands.
The racquet reportedly didn't hit the young boy but left him very shaken as he screamed and cried while being comforted by his parents in scenes described as "horrible" by angry viewers.
Many onlookers thought Begu should have been defaulted but after a discussion with the tournament supervisor, the chair umpire slapped the Romanian with a code violation and she was able to play on.
Kyrgios was embroiled in a similar controversy at Indian Wells earlier in the year, when he threw a racquet at the court in anger, following a quarter-final loss to Rafael Nadal.
The Aussie's racquet almost hit a ball boy but he managed to get out of the way as it bounced up off the court.
Nick Kyrgios’ temper tantrums creating a dangerous environment for everyone involved. barely two weeks after Alexander Zverev whacked his racket against the umpire’s chair. and this is supposed to be a “poised” sport? pic.twitter.com/422PnfesE3
— m m m monaco babyyy (@tsitschurrow) March 18, 2022
Kyrgios was hit with a US$25,000 fine over the incident and copped an avalanche of backlash on social media, with many tennis fans saying he should have been banned.
Needless to say, when the 27-year-old saw video of the Begu incident posted on social media, he replied in seemingly sarcastic fashion: “So 25k fine? Suspension?”
So 25k fine? Suspension?……
— Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) May 26, 2022
Irina-Camelia Begu lucky to avoid default in second round win
The Begu incident occurred in the third set of the second round match, with the Romanian slamming her racquet in frustration after losing a point.
Once play resumed, Begu immediately broke Alexandrova's serve, and won six of the next eight games to seal a 6-7 (3-7) 6-3 6-4 victory.
However, the controversy was far from over with the beaten Alexandrova accusing officials of failing tennis by not defaulting Begu.
"So disappointed to leave [Roland Garros] like that, I was trying to do my best, but seems like the rules were against me today," she wrote on Instagram.
"This shouldn't be happening. I hope after today's match rules will be improved for everyone's safety. We are responsible for our racket."
Speaking to the media after her win, Begu was apologetic for her actions.
"Well, it's an embarrassing moment for me. I just want to apologise," she said.
"My whole career I didn't do something like this, and I feel really bad and sorry.
"So I'm just going to say again, sorry for the incident and, yeah, it was just an embarrassing moment for me.
She added: "It was a difficult moment because I didn't want to hit that racquet, you know.
"You hit the clay with the racket, but you never expect [it] to fly that much.
"It was, as I said, embarrassing moment for me, and I just want to end it and not talk about it."
with agencies
Click here to sign up to our newsletter for all the latest and breaking stories from Australia and around the world.
