He may be very, very talented, but Australian Nick Kyrgios is also a massive tosser.

Exhibit A – that time he told opponent Stan Wawrinka, mid-match, that another pro tennis player had slept with Stan’s girlfriend.

Exhibit B – when he stopped trying to return his rival’s serve and heckled the crowd.

Exhibit C – that time he was fined for “simulating a sex act” with a water bottle.

There are many, many more indiscretions from years gone by, but yesterday’s theatrics are up there with his worst. During his Italian Open second-round match against Norway’s Casper Ruud at the Foro Italico, he really lost the plot.

The Guardian reports:

After Ruud broke back to make it 1-1 in the deciding set, Kyrgios was given a game penalty, apparently for swearing at a line judge, and promptly erupted. He slammed down his racket, kicked a water bottle and hurled a chair on to the court.

The umpire called the referee to court but, before he could be officially defaulted, Kyrgios told the crowd, “I’m done”, packed up his bag and walked off, to loud whistles and jeers.

Complete and utter wanker.

Here’s the first video, which features him swearing and tossing the chair:

NSFW: Nick Kyrgios absolutely loses it at the Italian Open

(via @andreopines) pic.twitter.com/TabwYNlonv

— SI Tennis (@SI_Tennis) May 16, 2019

This is my favourite video – not only do we see Kyrgios leave the court, but we also get to enjoy a very Italian man pleading with him to finish the match:

Footage of Nick Kyrgios’ rampage after losing at the Rome Masters…

(: @tancredipalmeri)pic.twitter.com/cQsQf7nEFg

— BenchWarmers (@BeWarmers) May 16, 2019

Nooo maaaan, don’t doooo it.

24 hours earlier, on tennis podcast No Challenges Remaining, Kyrgios said he “could not stand” Novak Djokovic and called Rafael Nadal “super salty”.

More on his comments about Djokovic:

“I just feel like he has a sick obsession with wanting to be liked. He just wants to be like Roger.

“I don’t care right now, I’ve come this far, I feel like he wants to be liked so much that I can’t stand him.

“This whole celebration thing that he does after matches, it’s, like, so cringeworthy. It’s very cringeworthy.

At least he did go on to say that Djokovic was “a champion of the sport”, and “one of the greatest you’ll ever see”.

Perhaps rather surprisingly, he had some nice things to say about Andy Murray:

“I’ve played them both and I feel like Andy Murray returns better, he’s harder to play against, I feel like his serve’s better.

“I’ve told him ‘you should have won so many more Grand Slams’.

“With Murray, he would have ticked all the boxes. It’s just sad, it sucks not seeing him around here.

“In the locker room he was the best, always having ‘bants’ and everybody was super friendly with him. He also had an opinion of some people too and he wasn’t afraid to say things as well, which I liked.

“He was just a lot of fun and I think the sport lost a good one there.”

Nice of you, Nick, but when you stop behaving like a tosser on court, we’ll stop calling you one.

[source:guardian]