Nick Kyrgios impressively outscored another of the top 10 players on Wednesday, but not before a dispute with the chair referee.
Nick Kyrgios impressively overtook Stefanos Tsitsipas at the Halle Grass Track Tournament on Wednesday to acknowledge his threatening Wimbledon status, but only after a shotgun with the chair referee for sweating.
The Australian defeated world number 6 Tsitsipas 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 to reach a second straight quarter-final after making it to the round of 16 in Stuttgart last week.
It was his third top 10 win of the year.
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The 27-year-old broke his racket after losing the first goal, after saving three points from seven.
He then got into a small dispute with the chair referee in the third game of the second set, getting a warning to waste time.
“He said he was playing too slow; statistically I’m one of the fastest,” Kyrgios said.
“I had to walk to the side to grab my towel, there’s something called sweat with a 30 degree centigrade heat coming down on my hands.
“I needed to dry my hands and he warned me.”
Kyrgios immediately sat down in the middle of the match on his bench and hit the spot with his chair before returning to the court in a hurry.
“The support I get from crowds around the world is amazing. They want me to come out and do a show,” he said.
Kyrgios called what he called a frivolous warning “an unnecessary part of the game.”
“It’s not necessary in a crowded stadium,” he added.
“I later hit two asses just to prove my point.”
Kyrgios, who has only played five events this season outside of Australia, said he is proud to win on his own terms, without a coach and play only when it suits him, although he maintains his ranking in the current 65th position.
“There needs to be more turf events, I’ve been talking about them for years,” he said after defeating the second Greek seed as he saved seven of eight break points in just over two hours.
“If we had six grass court tournaments in Australia, I would never leave the country.”
Kyrgios will play a quarterfinal on Friday against Pablo Carreno Busta after Spanish sixth-seeded Sebastian Korda defeated 6-4, 0-6, 6-3.
The Australian said his lack of a massive work ethic in tennis is really a help to his game.
“If I can beat some of the best players in the world and play at that level with as few events as me, I’m very happy,” he said.
“I have a lot of people I play for at home and they all want me to keep winning games like this. It just shows that you can do everything your way. “
– AFP
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