Nick Kyrgios yells at fans, throws tantrum at Shanghai Masters

Nick Kyrgios had a bad day at the office, losing in straight sets to Mischa Zverev at the Shanghai Masters. But Kyrgios turned an ugly 6-3, 6-1 loss into an international story by fighting with both the chair umpire and fans and tapping out early in several games.

Long known for an explosive temper, Kyrgios, ranked No. 14, didn’t take long to go off the rails against the 110th-ranked Zverev. In the match’s fifth game, en route to going down 1-4, Kyrgios dinked a dismissive serve that a child could have returned:

That earned him a rebuke from the chair. Early in the second set, he walked off the court before one of Zverev’s game-winning serves even landed. That set the restless crowd alight, and Kyrgios began yapping with fans. As the match wound to its inevitable close, one fan began shouting for Kyrgios to “respect the game” and “respect the people.”

Kyrgios responded to the taunts by saying, “You wanna come here and play? Sit down and shut up and watch.”

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After the match, Kyrgios doubled down, using a tried-and-true argumentative technique of Internet comment sections everywhere:

“If you don’t like it, I didn’t ask you to come watch. Just leave. If you’re so good at giving advice and so good at tennis, why aren’t you as good as me? Why aren’t you on the tour?”

A few hours afterward, probably after being reminded that fans could have a far more dramatic impact on his wallet than his tennis, Kyrgios apologized on Twitter:

The emojis really sold the apology, don’t you think? This isn’t the first time Kyrgios has run himself into trouble. In 2015, he drew a $10,000 fine for his shot at Stan Wawrinka, or more specifically, Wawrinka’s girlfriend. Also last year, he tanked several points at Wimbledon to Richard Gasquet:

Making a name for himself, Kyrgios is.
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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports and the author of EARNHARDT NATION, on sale now at Amazon or wherever books are sold. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter or on Facebook.