Nick Kyrgios has landed himself in hot water in the aftermath of his Indian Wells exit at the hands of Rafael Nadal after coming close to taking out a ball kid with his racquet.
Kyrgios displayed both the good and the bad in his quarter-final loss to Nadal, taking a set off the Spaniard as he fought gamely, while also exploding at the chair umpire during the match.
The 26-year-old cut a frustrated figure immediately after the 6-7 (0-7) 7-5 6-4 loss, hurling his racquet into the ground after shaking hands with chair umpire Carlos Bernardes.
READ MORE: Kyrgios and Nadal clash in fiery encounter
READ MORE: Why Munster couldn’t leave the field if Storm lost
READ MORE: US Olympian, family targeted in China spy operation
The racquet skidded off the hard court, going straight towards the head of a ballkid, who was able to duck out of the way in the nick of time.
Kyrgios was asked about the incident in his post-match press conference and unleashed on the journalist.
“What would you like me to say about it? Obviously, was that my intention? No. Because I threw a racquet,” the furious Aussie responded.
“Did I throw the racquet anywhere near him originally? It landed a metre from my foot and skidded and nearly hit him. I’m human. Things happen like that. Obviously it was a very misfortunate bounce.
“I think if I did that a million times over it wouldn’t have gone that way. And what do you want me to say? It was three metres away from the kid. That’s a question you’re going to say after a three-hour battle against Nadal. That’s what you come here with?”
Kyrgios contended that the incident “was most definitely not like Zverev”, referencing the German smashing an umpire’s chair with his racquet during the Mexican Open last month.
“He ducked. Duck. He ducked. He ducked. He ducked. Jesus. All right. It was an accident,” he said.
“It was most definitely not like Zverev. I didn’t hit him, thankfully. It wasn’t my intention. So thankfully the ball kid’s okay. Great question, though. Unbelievable stuff. (Clapping). Congratulations, man.”
Just hours after the match, Kyrgios took to social media to issue an apology to the ball kid.
“Hey guys, I just wanna apologise to that ball kid at the end of the match!” he wrote in an Instagram story.
https://twitter.com/NickKyrgios/status/1504667604195033095
“It was a complete accident and (I) was frustrated at the end of the match. My (racquet) took a crazy bounce and it was never my intention.
“If anyone knows who that ball kid is, send me a message and I will send a (racquet) to him. I’m glad he is okay!”
Kyrgios’ racquet hurl resulted in the Indian Wells crowd booing him as he came off the court following the match, with his actions termed “really disturbing”.
https://twitter.com/christophclarey/status/1504624319866974256?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1504624319866974256%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fd-22741812802611749529.ampproject.net%2F2203041950000%2Fframe.htmlhttps://twitter.com/bgtennisnation/status/1504627460872327170
Nadal, for his part, did not want to get involved in the Kyrgios histrionics after the match.
“We have a good relationship,” the Spaniard said.
“Sometimes he did things on the court that were not right, but I am a guy who tends to forget.
“I try to get along with almost everybody because life is much happier like this.”
Nadal will face the winner of the quarterfinal clash between countryman Carlos Alcaraz and Great Britain’s Cameron Norrie in the semi-finals.