US Open: Nick Kyrgios fined $11,000 for spitting and abusive behaviour
Nick Kyrgios has copped a big fine for his brattish behaviour at the US Open which included audible obscenities, spitting and abusing his own player’s box.
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Nick Kyrgios has copped a five-figure fine for his brattish behaviour in his second round victory over Benjamin Bonzi which included audible obscenities, spitting and abusing his own player’s box.
Having been somewhat subdued in his opener against Thanasi Kokkinakis, angry Kyrgios was back with vengeance in New York as he laboured to a 7-6 6-4 4-6 6-4 victory over the Frenchman.
Throughout the encounter Kyrgios was yelling at his nearest and dearest.
“Go home if you’re not going to f***ing support me bro,” he said.
His foul mouth together with vision of him spitting towards his entourage forced the tournament to issue a USD$7500 ($11,050) fine.
It is the largest sanction handed out at the 2022 edition so far.
While showing glimpses of some outrageously good tennis, it is becoming harder and harder to defend Kyrgios’s behaviour.
“We all know it’s a waste of time being like that,” Todd Woodbridge said.
“The people that are sitting in his player’s box have to take some action. That action should probably be standing up and walking out.
“They’ve got nothing to do with what goes on the court. It’s up to Nick to make the shots and hit the plays.”
Bizarrely, Kyrgios claimed he had never felt so professional after the victory saying the Wimbledon final has changed his approach and feelings towards tennis.
“I am a perfectionist on the court,” he said.
“This year has been amazing in so many ways but for tennis I wanted to almost reinvent myself and get back to the top of the game.
“Wimbledon final was a turning point mentally for me. If I had won that match I don’t know where my motivation would have been.
“Losing that was tough to swallow for me. I thought the pressure would be off after Wimbledon. I didn’t think I would be putting this much pressure on myself. I almost don’t know who I am anymore because that’s not me.
“I’m trying to balance a lot, I feel like I’m really professional now, I didn’t think Wimbledon would do this to me I thought it would be the opposite.”
SPECIAL K’S MARCH ON IN NEW YORK
Nick Kyrgios says he and Thanasi Kokkinakis have definite title aspirations in New York after surviving a first-round doubles scare.
The Australian Open champs beat first-time pairing Frenchman Hugo Gaston and Italian Lorenzo Musetti 4-6 6-3 6-4 in just over two hours on Louis Armstrong Stadium, scratching their way through much of the match.
Kyrgios remains in the singles draw and Kokkinakis was apologetic for keeping “the big fella” out on court too long ahead of his match against JJ Wolf on Saturday (AEST).
But just as Kyrgios has talked of becoming more professional after reaching the Wimbledon final, he and Kokkinakis are suddenly thinking about winning titles more than just having fun on court.
“After the Australian Open, pretty much everywhere we’ve played has been amazing and we definitely have aspirations to win the tournament,” Kyrgios said.
“I’m just glad we were still in the tournament after tonight.”
For two-and-a-half sets it had been staid.
Kyrgios and Kokkinakis had been the entertainers at the Australian Open.
But in their opening match at Flushing Meadows, they looked as though they would have preferred to be anywhere but on Louis Armstrong Stadium.
Kyrgios has talked of being burnt out and feeling pressure, Kokkinakis is clearly not hitting the ball as he would like.
They lost the first set to a pair teaming up for the first time and the lightheartedness with which they played in Melbourne seemed to have disappeared.
They took the second set to send the match to a decider where the Aussies finally gave fans what they wanted.
After scrambling to win a crucial point on Gaston’s serve, Kyrgios rallied the crowd and the thousands who had stayed in the show court to experience some Special Ks magic responded.
It was a tumultuous match though.
In the same game in which they broke serve, Kyrgios smashed his racquet - before handing it to a young fan courtside and making his day when he signed it after the match - and put himself and Kokkinakis under pressure when serving for the match after losing the point following an underarm dink at 40-0.
It was exactly what the crowd had been waiting for though and they lapped up the theatre.
“The atmosphere when we play, I think all the teams we play up against are really looking forward to it,” Kokkinakis said.
“But I kind of feel bad, I know the big fella’s got singles and I kept him out here too long, so that’s my bad.
“But again, your (the crowd’s) energy was great.”
Asked about the “physical ask” of playing singles and doubles at a major, Kyrgios said he was in the best shape of his career.
“Honestly, I’d rather do this than practice and it’s good money as well, it keeps my girlfriend happy,” he said.
It may have been a tongue-in-cheek comment but being on court alongside Kokkinakis is likely to help keep Kyrgios on an even keel, with the volatile 27-year-old in check.
The Canberran has said he feels the pressure to succeed after making the Wimbledon final but he’s also burnt out and homesick and revealed in a social media post on Thursday the toll being away from family on occasions like his sick mother’s birthday is taking.
Already handed a mammoth fine for spitting and swearing during his round 2 singles win, Kyrgios could be in hot water again after picking up a code violation for smashing his racquet midway through the third set.
SERENA AND VENUS WILLIAMS OUT OF US OPEN DOUBLES
Serena and Venus Williams’ glittering Grand Slam doubles career was brought to an abrupt end at the US Open as the reunited sisters crashed out in the first round against Czech duo Lucie Hradecka and Linda Noskova.
The Williams sisters -- in what is almost certainly their final outing together as a Grand Slam doubles duo -- slumped to a 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 loss at the Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The American pair - winners of 14 Grand Slam crowns and three Olympic gold medals -- had not played together in a doubles tournament since 2018.
But they were handed a wild card into the draw for this year’s US Open just weeks after Serena indicated she planned to retire following the tournament.
On Wednesday, Serena kept her US Open singles campaign alive with a roller coaster, never-say-die performance, sending the Arthur Ashe faithful into raptures on a night of high drama.
But there was a more subdued atmosphere on Thursday as the two sisters took center-stage together to open the night session.
While Serena showed flashes of the sort of brilliance that has studded her singles performances this week, elder sister Venus struggled to find her best form against the Czech duo.
The Williams sisters were unable to take advantage of two opportunities to gain a crucial service break in the first set, and paid the price as Hradecka and Noskova clinched the tie break.
Buoyed by their opening set performance, the Czechs scored an early break in the second and were soon 4-1 ahead with victory beckoning.
The Williams’ were determined not to go down without a fight however and after holding serve dug out a service break and held again to level at 4-4.
But hopes of an epic comeback were snuffed out rapidly with Noskova comfortably holding serve for a 5-4 lead.
The Czech duo then took three match points at 0-40 on Serena’s serve, converting on the second opportunity to clinch victory.
Serena will return to Flushing Meadows on Friday aiming to extend her singles campaign with a third round clash against Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic
UKRAINE INVASION ANGER SPILLS ONTO US OPEN COURT
Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk defended her decision not to offer a traditional post-match handshake to Victoria Azarenka after the Belarussian’s victory in the second round of the US Open on Thursday.
Kostyuk was dumped out of the tournament by Azarenka in a 6-2, 6-3 loss in a match played against a backdrop of acrimony over the war in Ukraine.
Belarus is a close ally of Russia and has allowed Moscow to use its territory to launch attacks into Ukraine.
Although there was no sign of animosity during Thursday’s match, Kostyuk offered only a perfunctory touch of racquets instead of a handshake after her defeat.
ðŸŽ™ï¸ @vika7 full answer on reaching out to 🇺🇦 players through WTA, what she was told & her relationships with them
— Jay (@theoverrule) September 1, 2022
"I'm here to try to help, which I have done a lot, maybe not something people see. I do it for juniors who need clothes, other people who need money/transportation." pic.twitter.com/gyxXOrUIzr
Kostyuk said she opted for the racquet touch as a way of expressing her frustration with Azarenka, accusing the 33-year-old WTA Tour veteran of not being more vocal against the conflict in Ukraine.
“I just don’t think it’s the right thing to do in the circumstances I’m in right now,” the 20-year-old from Kyiv said. “It was just my choice. I didn’t feel like it.” Kostyuk said she had attempted to contact Azarenka by text message on Wednesday to warn her that she would not shake hands. However Azarenka was not available to discuss the issue, she said.
“I had things to tell her before the match,” Kostyuk said. “I genuinely wanted to warn her that I’m not going to shake her hand.
“She never came up to me personally to tell me her opinion, what she thinks (about the war).”
Kostyuk added that she bore no personal ill-will to Azarenka. “I never had any personal hate towards her,” she said. “I just feel she has such a big role, outside of the tennis in Belarus, and inside tennis in the WTA Players Council.
“I feel like she could have done more.”
Azarenka meanwhile was reluctant to dwell on the handshake snub, and pushed back at the suggestion she had not reached out to Kostyuk.
“I’ve offered many times through the WTA, because I believe that there is a sort of sensitivity,” Azarenka said.
“I’ve been told that that’s not a good time. I don’t have, or I never had a close relationship with Marta. I obviously know who she is, but I’ve never practised with her. I’ve never really had a conversation with her.
“I feel like I’ve had a very clear message from the beginning, that I’m here to try to help. Maybe not something that people see. And that’s not what I do it for.
“I do it for people who are in need, juniors who need clothes, other people who need money or other people who needed transportation or whatever.
“That’s what is important to me, to help people are in need.” Last week, Azarenka was axed from an exhibition event on the eve of the US Open aimed at raising money for Ukraine.
Azarenka was due to have joined the fundraiser, which was timed to coincide with Ukraine’s Independence Day celebrations.
Kostyuk however was one of a number of Ukraine players who condemned Azarenka’s proposed participation. Organisers subsequently jettisoned Azarenka.
“Imagine in World War Two there is a fundraiser for Jewish people and German people wanted to play,” Kostyuk said Thursday.
“I don’t think Jewish people would understand.” Azarenka said she had hoped to play in the event as a way of demonstrating her solidarity with those affected by the war in Ukraine.
“I thought that this was a gesture that really shows commitment. I’m not sure why it wasn’t taken it that way,” she said.
Kostyuk brushed off suggestions that Russian and Belarusian players might be reluctant to condemn the war for fear of repercussions for relatives and loved ones at home.
“I genuinely feel I’m in a much more difficult situation than they are,” Kostyuk said.
“So I don’t care what they feel, what they think. It’s their choice. If they try to excuse themselves they’re already losing.”
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