Crowd boos as Nick Kyrgios match suspended after Wimbledon dummy spit

An emotional Nick Kyrgios enjoyed a wild return to Wimbledon as a rollercoaster match was called off in bizarre fashion late in the day.

The wheels fell off for Nick Kyrgios as he went down two-sets-to-one against Frenchman Ugo Humbert in his first round match at Wimbledon, before roaring back to life in a see-sawing five-set thriller.

The match was supposed to start earlier on an outside court but because of two lengthy clashes beforehand, as well as some trademark English rain, the encounter was delayed and Kyrgios played under lights on Court 1.

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However, the crowd booed because it was robbed of more drama when play was suspended midway through the fifth set at 6-4 4-6 3-6 6-1 3-3.

Wimbledon has an 11pm curfew and when the clock ticked over, the tournament referee came out to deliver the news the players would have to come back to finish their match after getting some sleep first.

According to the revised order of play, Kyrgios and Humbert won’t resume their match before 11pm tonight AEST.

Kyrgios comes back after wheels fall off

Kyrgios won the first set 6-4 but dropped the next two as his temper started to boil. After going down 0-3 in the third following a series of poor decisions, the Aussie’s frustration was clear for all to see.

At the change of ends the 26-year-old knew the camera was on him and took the chance to complain to TV viewers tuning in about the court speed.

“For those of you guys at home right now, this should be fast. It’s grass court tennis,” he said. “This is slow. It’s slow.”

After starting so well, Kyrgios’ irritation grew. He muttered angrily to himself in between points and issued an angry plea.

“It’s turf, it should be fast. They made it slow. It’s not turf anymore, it’s a joke,” he said. “This isn’t grass anymore … start watering it … make it a grass court again please!”

Kyrgios’ mood only got worse when he dropped the third set 6-3 but he started the fourth with a vengeance, thundering down four straight aces in a remarkable service game.

He raced to 4-1 up and interacted with the crowd, which was buzzing as the match reached a new intensity. The wild child drew some laughs when he thanked a fan for giving him some serving advice that paid off.

Kyrgios maintained the rage to win the fourth set 6-1 in just 30 minutes and send the match to a decider. Astonishingly, he made 95 per cent of his first serves and committed zero unforced errors in the set — almost unheard of for any player, let alone one as enigmatic as Kyrgios.

The fifth set was a tense, even affair as both players hung on grimly before play was suspended at 3-3.

Kyrgios started to suffer as the match wore on.

Kyrgios beat Humbert in a five set thriller in the Australian Open earlier this year and although the Frenchman has shown his class on grass with victory at Halle, Kyrgios drew first blood.

He went down a break early in the first set but recovered to get things back on level terms and even threatened to pull off a cheeky underarm serve in the opening games — much to the crowd’s delight as it chuckled along.

The Canberra product started to find his groove and erupted with roars of approval when he fired up after winning some crucial points. He broke again to take a 5-3 lead in the opener and kept his foot on the throat, closing the set out 6-4 in clinical fashion

Kyrgios’ serve was on fire after an early wobble, dominating off his own racquet as he kept Humbert guessing with his variety.

“Humbert has no idea what he’s trying to,” one commentator said.

However, Humbert kept himself in the contest and eventually broke Kyrgios’ serve, then held his nerve to win the second set 6-4.

It was more of the same in the third as Humbert rattled through Kyrgios, who looked short of match fitness. But the Aussie star found another gear in the fourth to ensure he wouldn’t be waving goodbye to the All England Club just yet.

Kyrgios looked good in his first outing.

Kyrgios a changed man

Kyrgios is keen to show off a different side to himself this year, saying he “wants to be a better tennis player and a better person”.

Having not played outside of Australia since February last year, Kyrgios said he was a changed man heading into Wimbledon.

It’s a transformation partly sparked by a lengthy absence from the tour as his country battened down the hatches in the face of the pandemic.

“I want to be better as a tennis player and a person,” Kyrgios said on the weekend. “I have reached a nice level of freedom, nothing fazes me at all anymore and I feel I have more to give the game.

“I feel a lot of people want me to play.”

A former top 15 player, Kyrgios is now down at 61 in the world. He has not played since the Australian Open in February where he let slip a two sets lead to lose to US Open champion Dominic Thiem in the third round.

With AFP