Aussie 'bad boy' Nick Kyrgios lashes out at fan, beats Andy Murray for the first time
Nick Kyrgios is not changing his attitude on and off the court despite the controversies in the past few months. In a match against Andy Murray at the 2016 Hopman Cup, Kyrgios was at it again, having a not-so-friendly banter with a fan while playing.
“Are you playing? “Do you want to come down here and play?” Kyrgios said to the fan, according to reports. “You just sit in your comfy chair. You just sit in your comfy seat and watch.”
The score was tied at 4-4 during the time of the incident but it appeared to have fired up Kyrgios, who netted his first career victory over Murray after losing the previous four meetings in their head-to-head series. Kyrgios won with the score of 6-4 7-6 (5), winning the crucial tiebreaker in the second.
Three of Kyrgios’ losses to Murray came in the Grand Slam tournaments in 2015, in the first round of the US Open, Round of 32 of the French Open and the quarterfinals of the Australian Open.
“I actually did promise a couple of my friends that next time I played Andy, I was going to beat him,” Kyrgios said to the Guardian after the match. “He’s in the prime of his career. He’s been playing some great tennis. Every time I’ve played him I haven’t played bad.”
Krygios, who has earned the reputation of being the new “bad boy” in tennis, is known for his temperamental attitude during his matches.
This is not the first time that the 20-year-old Australian has had banters with fans, umpires, line judges and fellow players in his short pro career. The most infamous Kyrgios’ controversy was the time when he told Swiss Stan Wawrinka that Thanasi Kokkinakis “banged” the former’s girlfriend during a trash talk during their match.
In other Australia vs Great Britain matches, Heather Watson defeated Daria Gavrilova, 6-7(2) 6-2 7-5 but the Aussies won the series after winning the mixed doubles as Kyrgios and Gavrilova beat Murray and Watson, 6-2 6-7(0) 11-9.
Australia moved to the top of Group B with a 2-0 record with the win and has a very good chance of qualifying to the next round.
