Nick Kyrgios disgraces himself in Miami Open defeat to Jannik Sinner

Nick Kyrgios’s temperament once again got the better of him as he narrowly avoided disqualification in his 7-6, 6-3 fourth-round defeat to Jannik Sinner at the Miami Open on Tuesday.

The Australian, who was handed a wildcard for the tournament, had an eventful afternoon which included abusing the umpire, posing for a selfie with a fan and having point and game penalties.

At the start of the match, Kyrgios complained about the court speed, suggesting it was much slower than the stadium he had comfortably beaten Andrey Rublev and Fabio Fognini on in previous rounds. However, he kept himself in a tight opening set against Sinner, saving two break points to level up at 4-4.

Towards the end of the resulting game, the volume of umpire Carlos Bernardes’s walkie-talkie stopped play mid-point. The point was played out again, with Sinner firing down an ace to lead 5-4, which sparked the world number 102 to take his frustration out on the Brazilian umpire.

Walking back to his chair Kyrgios raged: “Unbelievable, it’s the fourth round at Miami – one of the biggest tournaments – and you guys can’t do your jobs. It’s embarrassing.”

Kyrgios then began to blame the crowd, complaining about sections shouting out during points. Despite this, Kyrgios took the opening set to a tie-break in a thrilling battle.

Kyrgios could not rise to the challenge though, slamming his racket onto the floor as he trailed 3-1, before being given a point penalty for consistent abuse aimed at Bernardes, which left him trailing 6-3. The Australian then threw in a double fault to gift the set to the world number 11.

This provoked another heated exchange between Kyrgios and Bernardes before Kyrgios slammed his racquet into his bag multiple times, which prompted the umpire to issue him a game penalty at the start of the second set.

In a match that seemed to have everything, a fan then astonishingly ran onto the court to pose for a selfie, Kyrgios obliged, with security quickly on to the scene to make sure no harm was done.

Sinner, despite all the theatrics, kept to his game, using the game penalty to his advantage with strong service.

Kyrgios, then serving to stay in the match, appeared to throw in the towel with a careless high-speed tempo, which allowed Sinner to break again and book his place in the last eight, which will see him take on Francisco Cerundolo.

There is no doubt Kyrgios is one of the most naturally gifted Tennis players in the game, with his frequently used trick shots bringing smiles to so many faces. His class was on show earlier in the week when he dispatched the world number seven, Andrey Rublev, with ease but once again on the main stage, he let his emotions get the better of him, in what was an evenly contested match.

His behaviour went way too far, with the constant dialogue aimed at the umpire and racket smashes forcing his attention away from the game as it has done on so many occasions.

His attitude simply has to change if Kyrgios is to make any progress in the game, but after yet, another embarrassing and childish outburst, is it too late for him to turn the corner?

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