Kyrgios unrepentant after Miami meltdown

A spectator runs on court and takes a selfie with Nick Kyrgios during the Australian's tempestuous loss to Jannik Sinner at the Miami Open

Australia's Nick Kyrgios slams his racquet in his match against Italian Jannik Sinner at the Miami Open ATP and WTA hard court tennis tournament

Nick Kyrgios refused to apologize for his Miami Open meltdown Tuesday and insisted he couldn’t care less about receiving further sanctions from tennis bosses.

Kyrgios, who was fined $25,000 for racquet abuse and verbal obscenities after losing to Rafael Nadal in Indian Wells earlier this month, lost his head in the Miami heat and spent his fourth-round match delivering a blistering verbal assault on "dreadful" Brazilian match umpire Carlos Bernardes before crashing out 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 to Italy's Jannik Sinner.

Kyrgios was seething with Bernardes, who was also in charge of his controversial match with Nadal, calling him "an absolute clown" before raging: "This is one of the biggest tournaments and you guys can't do your job. It's embarrassing."

Kyrgios refused to let his anger lie and, having already received a code violation for an audible obscenity, was hit with a point penalty at 5-3 in the first set tie-break for unsportsmanlike conduct after appearing to talk with a friend who was sitting courtside.

"I just don’t think he (Bernardes) controls the crowd well at all," the Australian told AFP.

"When everyone in the crowd is booing an umpire and he is becoming the center of attention, that is not his job. No one in the stadium came to see him talk or do what he does. 

"And you have a guy talking while I was 40-0 up. He was talking. I was like 'what are you doing?' The crowd actually hated him that much they told him to be quiet.

"He made it about himself and apparently his feelings were hurt from what I said and the crowd said. You can't be like that if you're an umpire."

Kyrgios, who said earlier this week that he was at "peace" with himself on and off the court, was also involved in a bizarre incident on the Grandstand court when a fan ran onto the playing surface and managed to get a selfie with him.

Further repercussions could be forthcoming yet Kyrgios added: "I don’t think it's fair and I hate bringing the same things up all the time.

"Where is the balance? How much do I bring to the sport? That's the problem with tennis - it doesn't protect our stars at all. We love to outcast them.

Meanwhile, Kyrgios said, Bernardes would get "a slap on the wrist" for a "horrendous" performance.

Kyrgios is still in the doubles with Thanasi Kokkinakis. The pair, who won the Australian Open doubles title earlier this year, beat Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos to move into the semi-finals.

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Originally published as Kyrgios unrepentant after Miami meltdown