Stephen HollyKyrgios had hoped to break Nadal’s unbeaten start to the tennis season, but he lost his cool during the match, shouting at the chair umpire and getting into a verbal spat with a man sitting next to Hollywood star Ben Stiller.
He asked the man seated three seats down from Stiller, “Why are you speaking?” before pointing at the comedian.
Do I instruct him on how to behave? No
After breaking in the third set, Kyrgios slammed chair umpire Carlos Bernardes for failing to control the crowd.
“How much longer are you going to put up with this? How long do you think it will take? How long do you think it will take? How much longer, bro? How long do you think it will take? ” Kyrgios screamed angrily.
Maybe it wouldn’t have occurred if you had intervened earlier.
It happens again and over again – and look at the score! Check out the final score!
It’s your job, not anyone else’s, to keep that under control.
After Kyrgios shattered his racquet right after his post-match handshake with Nadal, the Australian was booed off the court, with the piece of equipment apparently nearly striking a young boy.
Nadal wins, and Kyrgios spikes his racquet, which flies through the air and nearly hits a ball kid. As he walks away from the stage, the audience boos him
Ben Rothenberg, a tennis journalist, took to Twitter.
A tense conclusion to a fantastic match.
After a tense third-set exchange with the fans, Kyrgios dropped his serve in the seventh game, allowing Nadal to cruise to victory and put an end to a titanic battle.
Kyrgios, the world No.132 who needed a wildcard to enter the tournament, made a mockery of his lowly ranking from the start, breaking Nadal first and going on to hold his serve for 30 consecutive games.
The 26-year-old was enraged after he missed his chance to serve out the first set, destroying two racquets in the process, before handing the second to a spectator child.
As he waited for silence on his serve, Kyrgios snarled at one obnoxious spectator, earning him a point penalty.
“I need to penalize you because it’s too loud,” umpire Bernardes told Kyrgios, who answered with a shake of his head, “unbelievable.”
The circus environment necessitated yet another intervention from Bernardes, who leaned out of his chair to speak to one of the audience members, saying: “There are 10,000 people here to watch tennis, but you’re the only one who wants to shout uncontrollably. Please.”
Kyrgios regained his poise on the court, closing off service games and concealing drop shots as he led 6-5.
He also leveled the match by slipping on his way to a drop shot and scrambling an overhead to win the second set.
In the third, Kyrgios had the upper hand, with Nadal holding service with uncharacteristic sloppiness in the early games.
All of that changed when the audience turned the Australian’s head during the final games.
Nadal won his 19th match in a row this year, including ATP crowns in Melbourne and Acapulco, as well as a record-breaking 21st slam at the Australian Open.
He will play either Carlos Alcaraz or reigning champion Cameron Norrie in the semi-finals at Indian Wells, where he can rise to world No. 3 with a win.
While Kyrgios lost against Nadal, he will rise in the rankings following a successful tournament, and is expected to be ranked No. 101 at the conclusion of the week.
