Nick Kyrgios has claimed he was racially abused by a fan in Stuttgart during another refereeing and racket-smashing defeat, this time at the hands of Andy Murray.
The Australian, who feuded with the German crowd and the chair umpire, had to be persuaded to continue his semi-final on the lawn before eventually going down 7-6 (7/5), 6-2 in the rejuvenated former world number one Murray.
But after the match, Kyrgios revealed that he had retaliated after hearing racist comments.
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‘When will this end? Dealing with racist comments from the crowd?’ he wrote on Instagram.
“If I take revenge on the mob, I will be punished. This is a mess.”
Great Britain’s two-time Wimbledon champion Murray had to admit the match “wasn’t fun in the end” as he pondered the latest controversy surrounding Kyrgios, a friend he says still has the talent to be one of the world’s best players. to be the best players.
The match mirrored a couple in the US earlier this year when Kyrgios ended up being fined a total of $60,000 ($84,710) for his conduct at both Indian Wells and the Miami Open.
His latest collapse could spark even more anger at the ATP as he argued with the mob and ended up booing off the court.
In what had been an entertaining and hard-fought clash in the first set, a frustrated Kyrgios suffered a code violation early in the tie-break, then was penalized after losing the set on what appeared to be a bad bounce on the last point.
He was still furious when the second set started, but was immediately broken after throwing a couple of double fouls and, amid arguments with the referee and the crowd, was awarded a one-match penalty.
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Apparently stung by the audience’s comment, Kyrgios would not continue playing, sitting in his chair, until the tournament director came out to convince him to continue.
After completely losing focus, the Australian made numerous mistakes as Murray comfortably sealed his spot in the final.
“You’re always fighting yourself and the opponent, it’s one of the hard things about individual sports,” said Murray after reaching the 70th final of his impressive career.
“It was not fun in the end. The second set was not a real match. The end of the first set was decisive.”
In the final, Murray, whose revival at age 35 after a career-saving hip surgery is quite inspiring, will take on second seed Matteo Berrettini, who defeated Germany’s Oscar Otte 7-6 in his first Tour final of the season ( 9-7) 7-6 (7-5) in the other semi-final.
Kyrgios had previously been involved in a series of entertaining rallies, also mesmerizing audiences with his forearm serve and ‘tweeners’.
Two-time Wimbledon champion Murray – who had beaten top class Stefanos Tsitsipas the previous day – is in his first grass court final in six years, since beating Milos Raonic for his second Wimbledon title in 2016.
“It’s been a long time since the last final [on grass]† Lots of ups and downs but I kept going and working and finally managed to get to another one. I am proud of the effort I have put in,” he said.
AAP / Reuters
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