US Open: Chaos in New York with Nick Kyrgios fined, Special Ks losing and Rafael Nadal dumped
Nick Kyrgios is now favourite to win the US Open after 24 hours of wild results in New York. Meanwhile, the Special Ks are out of the doubles.
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It’s been a wild 24 hours at the US Open, with upsets, fines and a wide open men’s draw dominating the headlines.
The Special Ks are out of the men’s doubles, Rafael Nadal has been sent packing from the singles and Nick Kyrgios has been handed another big fine for his on-court antics.
Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis lost a thrilling three set match to 11th seeds Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliövaara 6-3 7-6 7-6.
While disappointing, it will allow Kyrgios to focus on his singles, where he is now the tournament favourite after Nadal’s shock exit.
The Spanish Bull was dumped by American Frances Tiafoe, going down in four sets, 6-4 4-6 6-4 6-3.
Nadal’s exit follows world number 1 Daniil Medvedev who was ousted by Kyrgios on Monday.
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Adding to the drama, Kyrgios was also fined again for his on-court behaviour during his victory over Medvedev.
The US Open announced overnight Kyrgios had been fined $5,900 for an “audible obscenity”.
It isn’t the first time he has been fined this tournament.
Kyrgios was hit with the biggest fine of the tournament ($11,000) for “spitting and audible obscenities” during his second-round victory.
He was also fined $5,900 for racquet abuse during an earlier doubles match with Thanasi Kokkinakis.
His latest fine means he has coughed up AUD$23,000.
BRILLIANT TIAFOE SENDS NADAL CRASHING OUT OF US OPEN
Frances Tiafoe produced the performance of a lifetime to send Rafael Nadal crashing out of the US Open in a stunning fourth round upset on Monday.
Tiafoe, who had only reached one major championship quarter-final in his career before, shattered Nadal’s hopes of adding to his record collection of 22 Grand Slam singles titles with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory.
A packed Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd roared in delight as the 24-year-old 22nd seed bombarded Nadal with 18 aces and 49 winners to seal victory in 3hr 34min.
The win sends Tiafoe into a last eight showdown against Russian ninth seed Andrey Rublev on Wednesday.
“I don’t even know what to say right now,” Tiafoe said after his superb victory.
“I’m beyond happy, I’m almost in tears. I can’t believe it.
“He’s definitely one of the greatest of all time. I played unbelievable tennis today but yeah - I really don’t know what happened.”
Tiafoe, the son of immigrants from Sierra Leone who began playing tennis as a four-year-old when his father worked as a live-in caretaker at a tennis facility in Maryland, had never gone further than the fourth round at the US Open in seven previous appearances.
“When I first came on the scene a lot of people had expectations of me of how I would do and stuff, but I wasn’t ready for it. Mentally I wasn’t mature enough for those moments,” Tiafoe said.
“But these last couple of years I’ve been able to put my head down and develop.”
Nadal paid tribute to Tiafoe’s performance, and admitted he had struggled to cope with the American’s tactic of moving him around the court.
“I played a bad match and he played a good match. At the end that’s it, no?,” Nadal said.
“Tennis is a sport of position a lot of times, no? If not, you need to be very, very quick and very young. I am not in that moment anymore,” the 36-year-old said.
AUSSIE ‘SINNERS’ COULD END UP SAINTS AT US OPEN
– By Will Swanton
Ajla Tomljanovic beat Serena Williams and thought, “Wow, I’m the biggest villain in New York.” Now she’s reached the quarter-finals of the US Open alongside old flame Nick Kyrgios, who knows a thing or two about being cast as the bad guy.
There’s never been an Open this open. Both Kyrgios and Tomljanovic can win the singles titles at Flushing Meadows if they keep swinging for the fences.
Sunday night was no date night for them in the Big Apple – those days are long gone – but it was a great night for Australian tennis as they became the first men’s and women’s singles quarterfinalists since Pat Cash and Wendy Turnbull in 1984.
Can Tomljanovic win this most open of Opens?
“I’m not going as far as that,” she said. “But I definitely don’t have the feeling that maybe I had last year where I was maybe a little bit satisfied with making the quarters at majors for the first time.
“Now I’m obviously great and happy, first time in the US Open, but I’m feeling still really hungry. Which I like.
“I’m not scared to fail because I’ve failed a lot in my career … Life goes on.”
Can Kyrgios win this most open of Opens? “I always wanted to win,” he said. “I always felt like if I did the right things and played the right way, I could go deep. Still got a job to do. Like, it’s the last biggest tournament of the year. My team and I … we’ve got to try and just tough it out and keep pushing each other, keep being positive. Three more matches, potentially, then we never have to play tennis again.”
Ash Barty quit tennis at 25 after she won the two tournaments that mattered most to her. Wimbledon and the Australian Open. The 27-year-old Kyrgios might be tempted to do the same if he claims a major.
“I’ve got a lot of motivation at the moment,” he said. “But if I win a grand slam, I don’t know how much motivation I’d have afterwards because it’s extremely hard to do.”
Tomljanovic beat Russia’s Liudmila Samsonova 7-6 (10-8) 6-1 on Louis Armstrong Stadium on as Kyrgios produced a sensational 7-6 (13-11) 3-6 6-3 6-2 victory over World No. 1 Daniil Medvedev next door at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Tomljanovic next faces Wimbledon finalist Ons Jabeur; Kyrgios meets Russian giant Karen Khachanov.
Tomljanovic was the biggest sports story in America when she defeated Williams. She feared her post-match speech might have gone down the wrong way.
Nothing to worry about there. It was all class and she’s earned a whole lot of crowd support for the rest of the tournament.
Kyrgios’s push for a first major title stems from wanting to please those closest to him.
“I was just really sick of letting people down,” he said. “I feel like I’m making people proud now. I feel like there’s not as much negative things being said about me.”
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