Nick Kyrgios told the umpire to control the crowd as he made the finals of men’s doubles at the Australian Open, along with fellow Aussie Thanasi Kokkinakis.
The bad boy of tennis was up to his usual antics during the men’s doubles semifinal on Thursday.
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Kyrgios and Kokkinakis defeated third seeds Horacio Zeballos and Marcel Granollers 7-6 (4), 6-4 to set up a final on Saturday against fellow Australians Matt Ebden and Max Purcell.
Racquet smash and a 🖕🏻 finger to someone. #Kyrgios #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/g9kyBQfc8Z
— Tennis GIFs 🎾🎥 (@tennis_gifs) January 27, 2022
He smashed a racquet and flipped a finger at the crowd as he and Kokkinakis ensured an all-Australian Melbourne Park men’s doubles final for the first time in 42 years.
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The combustible Kyrgios hit boiling point as he complained about the net cord machine, then pulled out of a service motion at 4-2 in the first set.
He also complained that the Rod Laver Arena crowd were yelling in between first and second serves, despite the fact that he and Kokkinakis had been whipping up the fans into a boorish frenzy.
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He flipped a finger at one section of the crowd, petulantly threw a ball against a wall and smashed his racquet after he dropped his serve.
“When are you going to control the crowd, bro?” he asked chair umpire, James Keothavong.
“You’re gonna keep letting them scream before I serve? It happened four times that game.”
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Kyrgios’ comment was ironic given most of his opponents had complained about the crowd behaviour earlier in the tournament.
Daniil Medvedev took aim at sections of crowd following his singles victory over Kyrgios a week ago, saying: “They probably have a low IQ.”
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Quarter-final doubles opponent Michael Venus then labelled Kyrgios an “absolute knob” for his antics on court.
