Teenage tennis sensation Nick Kyrgios flirted with disqualification at the US open before powering on to defeat two-time semi-finalist Mikhail Youzhny.
In a bid to back up his incredible win over Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon the 19-year-old vanquished his opponent with a 7-5 7-6 (7-4) 2-6 7-6 (7-1) victory at Flushing Meadows on Monday’s day of play.
But the passionate youngster stood just one point away from being ejected from the court after incurring three code violations during the high octane three hour encounter.
In the second set Kyrgios walloped a ball out of the stadium in frustration and later dropped the F-bomb twice. In the fourth set he was docked a game for using the obscenities.
However the Aussie managed to collect himself and went on to win and after the match told reporters his outbursts are something he is trying to eliminate from his game.
“It just comes from having high expectations most of the time,” Kyrgios said.
“I have been an emotional player most of my career. Maybe I will be able to manage it in the future.
“It’s a work in progress. It’s something that’s always been there.”
But during his commentary of the match John McEnroe said even he was shocked to see the technical penalties come into play.
“Most players never even see that (game) penalty. I’ve seen it,” said McEnroe said.
While Kyrgios obscenities might be unacceptable for a gentleman’s game like tennis his outbursts sit somewhere on the mild end of the spectrum when you consider the kind of on-court tantrums tennis has seen over the years.
Here are some of the biggest dummy spits from some of the best superbrats to ever pick up (and throw) a racquet.
Nick Kyrgios flirted with disqualification at Flushing Meadows but his obscenities aren’t likely to even make a blip on the dummy spit scale when you consider the superbrats that have gone before him.
You couldn’t have a list of tennis tantys and not include John ‘You cannot be serious’ McEnroe. His infamous incident during his first round match against Tom Gullikson at Wimbledon in 1981 was sporting dummy spit at its best. Furious that the chair umpire called a ball out McEnroe entered in a hysterical tirade shouting “That ball was on the line! Chalk flew up! It was clearly in! You guys are the absolute pits of the world”.
The world number one Serena Williams lost her cool at the 2009 US Open final against Kim Clijsters when a lines woman called a fault which gave the Belgian two match points. “I swear to God I’m going to take this ball and shove it down your f***ing throat, you hear that? I swear to God,” Williams was caught saying to the official. Williams was fined $10,000 for the incident.
German racquet swinger Boris Becker was well known for his frequent meltdowns on the court. One of his most infamous outbursts was when he was matched against U.S. player Pete Sampras at the 1993 Wimbledon Tennis Championships.
Nine-time winner of the Wimbledon women’s singles title, Martina Navratilova lost her cool during an intense centre court match at the 1992 Wimbledon Championships where the Czech and American tennis player lost to top-seeded Monica Seles of Yugoslavia.
Almost known for her lungs as much as tennis playing ability Maria Sharapova let out a wild scream after missing a point at the 2005 semi-final against Kim Clijsters at the US Open.
In the 2006 Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington Andre Agassi slammed his racquet down after an upset by Italian Andrea Stoppini. “Breaking a racket for me has always been a sign of caring about something that you can’t quite get over the hump with… I was very frustrated,” Agassi later told ESPN of the outburst.
While he might have been there to witness Kyrgios’ recent outburst at Flushing Meadows, Mikhail Youzhny’s dummy spit at the 2008 Miami Masters was a bloody mess. The Russian took a poorly executed backhand out on his forehead when he smashed his racquet into his skull not once, not twice, but three times. Un-fazed by his self-abuse the seeded player calmly called for a towel to mop the blood off his face, a fresh racquet and went on the win the match.
Just before losing the 2004 Wimbledon Championships to Roger Federer Andy Roddick infamously shook the net out of frustration.
Belgian Xavier Malisse received an immediate disqualification and four week ban from a tournament in Miami in 2005 after hurling a ball at a lineswoman, verbally abusing other officials before kicking a fence and attacking it with his racquet.
Argentinian David Nalbandian’s fiery temper got the best of him at Queens in 2012 when he was ejected from the court after kicking an advertising board that struck a line judge’s shin and resulted in a nasty gash. Nalbandian was fined £8,000 and docked 150 ranking points for the outburst.
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