Sit down, shut up and watch - Kyrgios tells fan after unprofessional display at Shanghai Open

SportsCafe Desk
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Hot-headed Nick Kyrgios continued his unprofessional behavior into the Shanghai Open 'throwing away' his second round match against Mischa Zverev in just 48 minutes. The Aussie was warned by the officials but ignored it and at times walked away after serving even before Mischa had returned it.

Nick Kyrgios has built a reputation of being the brat in the circuit with occasional displays that have crossed the line, and his antics have only gotten more frequent with time. In a headless and infuriating display of tennis just days after winning the Japan Open, Nick Kyrgios today exited the Shanghai Open losing World No. 110 Zverev in straight sets, 6-3 6-1 within 48 minutes.

After his 6-4, 6-4 first-round win over world No.29 Sam Querrey on Tuesday, the 21-year old had complained of tiredness and had said that he was "bored" during the match.

He had said, "I was just a bit bored at times.

"I was feeling very tired. It was just tough. I'm just tired so maybe I just wanted to get the job done.

"I didn't have the greatest sleep last night and obviously got in late the day before," he said.

"The ride to the courts isn't great either,” he had continued to complain.

Taking that further, Kyrgios today served up soft serves and at times even walked off the court before Zverev could return.

The Australian also asked the umpire during a changeover : "Can you call time so I can finish this match and go home?"

He was eventually warned by the umpire saying, “Nick you can’t play like that.

“It’s just not professional. This is a pro tournament’.”

That appeared to have some effect as Kyrgios kept his obnoxious behavior in check for a while. However, he was soon back to his ways.

Kyrgios' antics were so overboard that a member of the audience admonished him saying, "You've to respect the game", to which Kyrgios retorted saying, "You wanna come here and play? Sit down, shut up and watch".

Kyrgios is not new to controversies at the Shanghai Open. Last year, he was fined £1000 for an expletive-filled rant where he described the event as a “circus”. Last month, he had also foul-mouthed the television crew calling them, "F*****g camera operators taking their f*****g pictures at the worst time - f**k off."

The 21-year old is one of the Gen-next fast approaching the top-ten in the world, and his win last week has put him in touching distance of the mark. May be it's time the authorities decided on the kind of behavior expected on the tennis court even if the player in question is an incredible talent. After all, no player is bigger than the sport. Ranting at people and events was tolerable, however, one needs to draw the line when it reaches the levels of throwing away matches.

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