Tennis news: Nick Kyrgios fined for smashing racquets after quarter-final loss at US Open

Nick Kyrgios has paid the price for his spectacular double racquet smashing tantrum at the end of his US Open run.

Julian Linden says Kyrgios can be a Wimbledon winner.

Nick Kyrgios was fined $14,000 on Wednesday for his spectacular double racquet smashing tantrum at the end of his US Open defeat to Karen Khachanov.

The Australian violently crushed two racquets into the surface of the Arthur Ashe Stadium after his five-set quarter-final loss on Tuesday.

It was Kyrgios’s fifth sanction of the tournament after he was earlier punished for bad language and spitting.

His fines totalled $32,500, although the sum will only cause a small dent in his total prize money of $445,000.

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Nick Kyrgios was fined $14,000 for racquet abuse after his quarter-final loss to Karen Khachanov. Picture: Julian Finney/Getty Images/AFP

Wimbledon runner-up Kyrgios was seen as a potential champion in New York but his 7-5, 4-6, 7-5, 6-7 (3/7), 6-4 loss to Russia’s Khachanov left him “devastated”.

“Just feel like it was either winning it all or nothing at all, to be honest,” said Kyrgios.

“I feel like I’ve just failed at this event right now. That’s what it feels like.”

Kyrgios should ditch best mate if he wants Grand Slam

-Julian Linden

The temptation to trash Nick Kyrgios is something most people just can’t resist because he makes it so easy for everyone not to like him.

His latest tantrum after his quarter-final loss at the US Open, has made him look like a complete goose, a tennis brat who can dish it out but can’t take it.

To his haters, and there’s no shortage of them, his ugly meltdown was all the proof they need that Kyrgios doesn’t have the smarts or the composure to win a grand slam.

The doubters all reckon this was his last shot at winning a major because there was no Roger Federer, no Novak Djokovic and no Rafa Nadal standing in his way.

Nick Kyrgios with the runners-up trophy after losing the Wimbledon final to Novak Djokovic.

Kyrgios and Djokovic chat after their final.

Kyrgios unleashes after losing to Karen Khachanov in the US Open quarter-finals.

Kyrgios took out No. 1 seed Daniil Medvedev on his way to the final eight.

The bookies even made him the favourite because he beat the defending champion Daniil Medvedev in the fourth round but the odds-makers were way off the mark.

And so is everyone else laying the boot into him and dismissing his chances next year just because he bombed out in New York.

If anything, the hot-headed Australian should return home to Australia confident that he’s finally on the right track to break through and capture his first grand slam title.

But there are some caveats.

At 27, time is starting to run out so he needs to get fair dinkum and accept that his chances of winning the US Open, the Australian Open, or the French Open are pretty slim.

Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis share a laugh after winning the Australian Open doubles.

In fact, Wimbledon is probably the only place where Kyrgios can win a major because the courts at the other grand slams just don’t suit his unorthodox power game.

Flushing Meadows’ slow synthetic hardcourts really didn’t do him any favours because they are a killer for natural serve and volleyers so don’t read anything into his quarter-final exit from the Big Apple.

The US Open, of all the grand slams, is the most unpredictable because it just gives so many players a chance.

Just look at the honour roll.

Aside from Medvedev, the recent men’s champions include Dominic Thiem, Marin Cilic and Juan Martin Del Potro while the recent women’s champions include Emma Raducanu, Bianca Andreescu, Sloane Stephens and Flavia Pennetta.

The US Open has become a lottery compared to the other majors but only a handful of players can realistically win Wimbledon, and Kyrgios is one of them.

He will have learnt a lot by reaching the final this year, including what he needs to do to go one better in 2023.

The first thing he needs to understand is that he doesn’t need to change a lot, on or off the court.

His swearing and spitting and fighting with officials and his own supporters is cringe-worthy at times but it seems to help him – and the television ratings – and if the snobs at the All England Club can live with it, then so should the rest of us.

Kyrgios thrives from being different so he shouldn’t go changing anything for fear of upsetting anyone – not that he ever would.

If that means skipping the clay court season, including the French Open, then ‘c’est la vie.

And if that means deserting his great mate Thanasi Kokkinakis in the doubles then so be it too because Kyrgios needs to go it alone.

He’s a special talent.

His serve is almost unplayable and he has the best drop shot in the sport, so if he can ignore all the outside noise and the complaints he’s copping after bowing out of New York, there’s nothing to stop him from going all the way next year.