Australian world No 21 Nick Kyrgios stormed off court at the Shanghai Masters midway through a match on Tuesday, 12 months on from a similar controversy.
Kyrgios, 22, had led opponent Steve Johnson 4-2 in the first set tie-break of their first round match, but after getting into a verbal altercation with the chair umpire, was docked a point before going on to lose the set.
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Kyrgios then approached the net to shake hands with Johnson, signalling his intention to retire from the match. The umpire can be heard asking Kyrgios if he needed help only for the Australian to ignore him, pack his bag and leave the court to jeers from the spectators.
The latest incident involving Kyrgios comes 48 hours after his meltdown in the China Open final against world No 1 Rafael Nadal in Beijing.
Steve Johnson through to @SH_RolexMasters second round after Kyrgios retires.#SHRolexMasters pic.twitter.com/cf3sgfZpPv
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) October 10, 2017
After four closely contested games at the start of the match, Kyrgios became frustrated over a line call and continued to complain to the umpire which resulted in a point penalty. Kyrgios went on to lose the match 6-2, 6-1.
Tuesday's mid-match retirement is not the first time Kyrgios has courted controversy in Shanghai. The Australian was fined $32,900 (Dh120,800) and banned for eight weeks after being charged with "lack of best efforts" during his 48-minute 6-3, 6-1 defeat to Mischa Zverev.
Nick Kyrgios not exactly trying his hardest at the #ShanghaiMasters pic.twitter.com/p2XQy9krWZ
— Spreadex Sports (@SpreadexSport) October 12, 2016
Kyrgios was ruthlessly booed by the crowd and when asked if he felt he owed the fans, he said: "What does that even mean? I'm good at hitting a tennis ball at the net. Big deal. I don't owe them anything. If you don't like it, I didn't ask you to come watch. Just leave."
