With all of his talent, it’s become far too common for Nick Kyrgios’ antics to control the match. That was once again the case Wednesday during his round of 32 contest against Karen Khachanov at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati.
Khachanov defeated Kyrgios in three sets, 6-7 (3-7), 7-6 (7-4), 6-2, but not before Kyrgios reignited his feud with chair umpire Fergus Murphy and expressed his frustrations in a variety of ways.
Kyrgios first became upset when Murphy assessed a time violation. The Australian then requested a bathroom break and, despite Murphy’s denial, walked off the court with a pair of rackets and smashed both in a hallway under the stands.