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Kyrgios has musical meltdown
Already down a set and trailing 3-5 in the second against Tomas Berdych, Nick Kyrgios heard something that did not agree with him at all.
PT1M17S 620 349In ugly scenes at Rod Laver Arena on Friday night, the Australian crowd turned against one of their own and booed Nick Kyrgios after a series of complaints from the 20-year-old.
Kyrgios' frustrations boiled over in the second set of his loss to Tomas Berdych after yelling out to a member of the crowd: "Do you want to turn your phone off or not?", later exchanging in a heated conversation with the chair umpire.
Ugly spat: Nick Kyrgios of Australia argues with the chair umpire during his third-round loss against Tomas Berdych. Photo: Pat Scala
He also gave the umpire a piece of his mind on his way off the court saying: "You're a terrible referee".
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Kyrgios, who went down 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 6-4, was forced to stop play on numerous occasions at 3-5 down in the second set with music echoing around centre court.
However the Australian crowd didn't respond well to Kyrgios' complaints, with portions abusing the world No.30.
And stand by for the abuse and haters!!! #Predictable #WhoCares #NotMe
��� Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) January 22, 2016'Get on with it Nick', 'shut up Nick', 'get a tissue Nick', the crowd yelled, before a contingency of the patrons inside Rod Laver Arena began jeering the controversial figure.
In Kyrgios' defence, the music was clearly audible in the stands, however his ensuing altercation with the chair umpire once again cast shadows over the much-maligned figure.
Kyrgios said: "Can you not hear that?", in which the umpire replied: "We're on it".
Kyrgios managed to hold serve but had plenty to say at the change of ends.
"Are you okay, are you okay?" Kyrgios said to the chair umpire.
"Mate, there is music playing in the crowd while we are playing. I've told you seven times. I didn't hear you ask me [to stop]. Did you say Nick, do you want to stop playing? No you didn't."
Despite Kyrgios not hearing the umpire's invitation to stop playing, the Australian went on to say: "Just answer me the question, is music allowed to be playing while we play?".
"Did you hear something? So why are you not telling them to turn it off, did you do that? You can't do it, you've got a microphone just there, you can't just say 'excuse me turn your phone off'?"
Kyrgios then turned to the crowd and said: "Am I hearing things, am I hearing things? Mate, it's a circus".
It wasn't the first time in the night Kyrgios had exchanged words with members of the crowd.
Down 0-15 on his serve at 3-3 in the second set, a ball landed on top of the digital advertising boards in front of the fans.
Mid-way through the next point, a male member of the crowd ridiculously decided to push the ball off the board and on to the court, forcing the umpire to call let an bring a halt to play.
It angered Kyrgios, who expressed some choice words and gestured towards the man in the crowd for being "intelligent" after bringing a halt to a point he seemed to be controlling.
This was the night that was meant to prove if the boy had become a man.
Despite being much younger than his opponents, Kyrgios was beating up on school kids in the opening two rounds, but the third round would show whether it was genuine toughness or still just a bravado.
Under the bright lights inside a jam-packed Rod Laver Arena, Kyrgios was put to the test by a seasoned pro who at times made the difficult look effortless.
Down an early break, Kyrgios sent a scare through the arena after rolling his ankle just when it looked like he would break back and square the ledger.
But as he limped back to his position, there was little he could do but watch as the Czech regained control of the game and eventually closed out the set.
But the opening set wasn't without fireworks from Kyrgios, who smashed his racquet into the court in frustration as he conceded there was no way back.
The second set began well for the 20-year-old Australian, but his concentration was soon broken.
Despite the controversial set, somehow he managed to pull himself back up off the canvas from the brink of imploding to steamroll Berdych in the third.
The Australian looked comfortable in the fourth but a slight hiccup saw him serving to stay in the match.
However his night and tournament came to an end with a double fault.