LONDON: Australian tennis player Nick Kyrgios will miss the rest of the season after being suspended by the men’s tour and fined an additional $25,000 on Monday for “conduct contrary to the integrity of the game.”
The ATP announced the sanctions after an investigation into Kyrgios’ conduct during a second-round loss to German qualifier Mischa Zverev at the Shanghai Masters.
Kyrgios gave little effort during the 6-3, 6-1 defeat, even patting a serve over the net and walking off court before his opponent’s serve had crossed back over.
The 21-year-old Australian had already been fined a total of $16,500 for failing to give a full effort, unsportsmanlike conduct and verbal abuse of a spectator.
The ATP said Monday that, in addition to the extra $25,000 fine, Kyrgios was handed an eight-week suspension lasting through Jan. 15 — a day before the start of the Australian Open, the year’s first Grand Slam tournament.
However, the tour said the suspension will be reduced to three weeks if Kyrgios agrees to enter “a plan of care under the direction of a sports psychologist or an equivalent plan approved by the ATP.” That means he would eligible to return on Nov. 7.
There are no regular tournaments on the schedule after Nov. 7. The only event in November is the ATP finals in London from Nov. 13-20. The 12th-ranked Kyrgios has not qualified for the eight-player finals, so he will have to wait until next year in any case to return to the tour.
Kyrgios issued a statement Monday offering another apology for his conduct in Shanghai and saying he will be back in 2017. He did not say whether he would enter the treatment program mandated by the ATP.
“I regret that my year is ending this way and that I will not have a chance to continue chasing the ATP finals,” Kyrgios said. “This was an important goal for me. I do understand and respect the decision by the ATP and I will use this time off to improve on and off the court. I am truly sorry and look forward to returning in 2017.”
Kyrgios’ outburst in Shanghai came only days after he had won his third title of the season in Tokyo.
During the match, Kyrgios was cautioned by the chair umpire about his conduct as a professional and booed and jeered by the crowd. Her responded angrily to the taunt of a fan by shouting, “You want to come here and play?“
In a post-match interview, Kyrgios said he didn’t care about the crowd reaction because he didn’t owe them anything. It was a day after his opening win, when he said he was tired and bored and didn’t really get time to savor his title-winning run in Tokyo over the weekend.
After the loss, Kyrgios posted an apology of sorts on Twitter: “Not good enough today on many levels, I’m better than that. I can go on about excuses but there are none. Sorry #StillAWorkInProgress.”
It was his latest run-in with tennis authorities. Last year, Kyrgios insulted Stan Wawrinka with crude remarks during a match in Montreal. He received $12,500 in fines, as well as a suspended 28-day ban and a potential further $25,000 fine if he picked up any other major offenses over the following six months. His probation for that ended in February.
Kyrgios attracted criticism for his performances at Wimbledon and at the US Open, for deciding not to play at the Olympics because of a spat with an Australian team official, and for firing back at retired players who have offered advice.
Nick Kyrgios suspended, fined by ATP for ‘conduct contrary to integrity of game’
Nick Kyrgios suspended, fined by ATP for ‘conduct contrary to integrity of game’
Russell, Antonelli lead Mercedes in one-two qualifying positions for F1’s Australian GP
- Russell topped all three sessions in F1’s knockout qualifying format, finally casting aside questions of where Mercedes team was in the new-era pecking order
MELBOURNE: Mercedes has revealed its dominant hand during qualifying for Sunday’s Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix.
George Russell earned his ninth-career pole position Saturday ahead of his teammate Kimi Antonelli for the team’s 83rd front-row lockout and its first since the 2024 British Grand Prix.
Russell topped all three sessions in F1’s knockout qualifying format, finally casting aside questions of where Mercedes team was in the new-era pecking order. His pole time, at 1 minute, 18.518 seconds, was almost eight-tenths faster than the nearest non-Mercedes challenger, Red Bull rookie Isack Hadjar, who completed the top three.
“It was a great day, we knew there was a lot of potential in the car, but until we get to this first Saturday of the season, you never know,” Russell said. “But it really came alive this afternoon, especially when the track temperatures cooled, we know we tend to favor those conditions.”
Antonelli was relieved to have made it onto the front row alongside his teammate after a crash in final practice at the exit of turn two meant it was a race in the Mercedes garage to get him out for qualifying.
“It’s been a very stressful day. Unfortunately, I went into the wall (in FP3),” he said. “But the guys (in the garage) were the heroes today to put the car back on track.”
Hadjar was impressive by qualifying third on debut for Red Bull, his highest-ever grid position.
“The only thing I can do is take them at the start, but they’re just too fast at the moment,” Hadjar said of Mercedes. “I want to keep my position and a second podium would be cool.”
Ferrari showed it’s neck-and-neck with McLaren on pace, with just one and a half tenths seconds covering the four drivers just beyond the top-three — with Charles Leclerc qualifying fourth, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris in fifth and sixth respectively, and Lewis Hamilton in seventh.
Racing Bulls showed they’ve taken a step forward over the winter, with New Zealander Liam Lawson eighth ahead of his highly-rated rookie teammate Arvid Lindblad.
The big surprise of the session came from four-time F1 world champion Max Verstappen, who triggered red flags at Melbourne’s Albert Park after he lost control of his Red Bull car in braking for turn one in the first half of Q1 and ended in the barriers.
The Dutchman, who was unhurt from the crash, though upset that his brakes locked up, will now start from the back of the grid.
F1 heads into a new era this year, with unprecedented changes across the chassis (car) and power unit, which now feature an almost 50:50 output split between the turbo 1.6-liter V6 engine and electrical energy harvested from the brakes, one that requires a new, often counterintuitive driving style from the drivers.
