Nick Kyrgios perplexed by chair umpire’s code violation as he tried to avoid ball kid making contact with his blood

Nick Kyrgios’ win over Karen Khachanov wasn’t without incident, the Aussie blowing up at the chair umpire after he was hit with a code violation while trying to stop a ball kid from getting blood on him. Did he have a point?

Nick Kyrgios remonstrates with chair umpire Renaud Lichtenstein. Picture: Getty Images

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Nick Kyrgios is baffled umpire Renaud Lichtenstein didn’t spot his bleeding hand before the Frenchman issued a code violation against the Canberran for taking too much time between serves during a titanic Australian Open triumph.

Kyrgios was livid with Lichtenstein after he was hit with a warning while he was telling a ball kid not to touch a bloodied towel during the fourth set before edging to a cliffhanger five-set win over Karen Khachanov.

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Nick Kyrgios remonstrates with chair umpire Renaud Lichtenstein. Picture: Getty Images

Kyrgios battled a bloodied hand during his clash with Karen Kachanov. Picture: AAP

“My hand was squirting blood,” an incredulous Kyrgios said.

“I’m not really too sure why I got a time violation.

“I just made sure that the ball kid wasn’t touching my towel with blood on it.

“Then the umpire just had no idea what was going on apparently.

“My hand is usually brown. It was covered in blood. Something wrong there.”

Kyrgios’ hand after he’d cleaned it off. Picture: AAP

Kyrgios exploded at the chair umpire after he issued the violation.

“Are you stupid?” Kyrgios thundered.

“There’s blood on the towel and I told the ball kid not to touch it.

“Did you not see that?”

After losing the point, Kyrgios shouted: “You f … ing idiot.”

At the change of ends, while having the hand treated, Kyrgios yelled: “Don’t look at me, do your job.”

Kyrgios feared he’d lose the match, but managed to regain has composure. Picture: AAP

Kyrgios regained composure following the incident and — despite failing to convert two match points in the third and fourth sets — notched one of his most satisfying wins.

“Yeah, that was definitely one of the craziest matches I’ve ever been a part of,” he said.

“It was insane. Had a match point in the third, a match point in the fourth.

“Then 8-7 down, I had all the thoughts. I thought I was going to lose.

“I was thinking about everything. I was thinking about the media if I lost, everything. Then, yeah, it was crazy.”

Kyrgios said Khachanov deserved more credit than he was given after the 4hrs,27mins classic.

“He’s not given enough credit. He played like four hours something in his previous match,” Kyrgios said.

“To come back out and put on a performance like that, I thought the level at the end was crazy.

“Yeah, I mean, the least I could do was go out there and give everything I had.”

Originally published as Nick Kyrgios perplexed by chair umpire’s code violation as he tried to avoid ball kid making contact with his blood