Nick Kyrgios threw a chair and walked off the court at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome on Thursday and was defaulted.
Kyrgios was trailing Norwegian qualifier Casper Ruud 2-1 in the third set when he walked off the court. He had been warned for ball abuse, lost a point for unsportsmanlike conduct and then was penalized with a game loss for unsportsmanlike conduct, apparently for berating spectators.
After the game penalty, he smashed his racquet into the ground and kicked a water bottle, then threw a chair onto the court. A profane tirade followed and he packed up his bag and left.
The ATP will penalize Kyrgios $33,635 in prize money from the tournament, and he will lose 45 ATP points. An additional punishment could be coming for the player ranked No. 36 in the world.
"I don't think he should be suspended," third-seeded Roger Federer said after advancing to the quarterfinals.
"He walked off the court. What did he do? He hurt a chair? That's not enough for me. I don't know if he's on probation or not from his Shanghai thing. If that's the case, then obviously you can maybe look into it.
"If that's run its course, I don't think he should be suspended."
This is the latest in a string of bad behavior by Kyrgios, a 24-year-old who has a history of suspensions and fines.
Last year, the ATP fined him $17,500 for making a sexual gesture during his match against Croatia's Marin Cilic at the Queen's Club Championship in London.
In 2016, he was fined and suspended for eight weeks for several rules violations at the Shanghai Rolex Masters, which included verbally abusing a spectator and deliberately throwing a match. He also was fined at the French Open and Wimbledon for swearing, as well as at the Australian Open for taking a phone call during a mixed-doubles match.
The year before, he was fined $12,500 and suspended four weeks for making crude remarks toward Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland.
"Very eventful day to say the least," Kyrgios wrote on Instagram after Thursday's match.
"Emotions got the better of me and I just wanted to say that the atmosphere was crazy out there today, just super unfortunate that it had to end in a default. Sorry Roma, see you again, maybe."
Article from Reuters
