Nick Kyrgios had another meltdown on-court, and this time it was during his drama-filled semifinal exit against Reilly Opelka at the U.S Men’s Clay Court Championships in Houston. The Australian was furious over a line call made by the umpire and blurted out expletives, for which he received a point penalty, which proved costly to the outcome of the match.
Nick Kyrgios had been clinical so far in the tournament, but his temper got the better of him as he lost 6-3, 7-5. But for the third tournament in a row, it wasn’t Kyrgios’ exit that made the headlines, it was his yet another meltdown during the match. The match was evenly poised a 5-5 in the second set and Kyrgios was serving at 30-15. Opelka hit a return to Kyrgios’ serve, which landed close to the baseline and the Australian was left in two minds as the ball appeared to be out. He hit a rather weak shot which Opelka hit back to win the point. Kyrgios was visibly furious over the call as the ball was clearly out.
“What do you mean you don’t know from there. Where are you supposed to sit then if you can’t see it? It’s right here. So what are you doing then? So you’re telling me, three line umpires on clay and he wins that point when the ball is out. So what are you guys actually doing out here?” Kyrgios said. The umpire however admitted his mistake saying “I believe it now, I made a mistake. Nick, I can’t call it. I didn’t know if it was out.”
Kyrgios lost the next point and his temper reached the tipping point and he blurted out “Dude f*** this, man.” He received a point penalty for audible obscenity, which meant Opelka got the break. The American then served for the match and won it. But ahead of the point, Kyrgios launched into an expletive-laden rant at the umpire.
“It’s f***ing out. It’s out of bounds on clay. How are you not calling it. How? It’s an absolute joke. How are you missing it? How? How? There’s two of you,” he said.
‘New umpires’: Nick Kyrgios reacts to his Houston meltdown
This was the third tournament in a row, where Kyrgios was involved in a heated exchange with the umpire. He was hit with a combined fine of $50,000 for his outbursts at the Indian Wells and Miami Open. However, this seems to have not deterred Kyrgios given his latest tirade in Houston. He was unapologetic over it this time around as well and made a sarcastic jibe saying it ‘falls all on me’. The 26-year-old even called for more punishment on the umpires for their performance and even new umpires.
“Haha again… falls all on me. Umpires seem to make these mistakes a little too often. A lot of players seemed dissatisfied with the performance of them this week in Houston. More punishment? Potentially new umpires? Semi final, ‘I missed it nick’ on clay 5-5 in the second set,” Kyrgios posted.
