'Ruined me': Nick Kyrgios blows up after bizarre rant
Nick Kyrgios made headlines for hitting the pubs at Wimbledon, but a different extracurricular activity seems to have hampered his quest for success at the US Open.
Late in the first set of his third round match against Andrey Rublev, Kyrgios began to complain that he was struggling to see.
His trainer had earlier been called upon to provide eyedrops, but Kyrgios saved the real blowup for a short time later.
While Rublev was serving the sixth game of the set, one of the linesman approached the chair umpire to report an ‘audible obscenity’.
This was enough to tip Kyrgios over the edge, with the Australian star proceeding to argue with the umpire about exactly what was said, before he labelled the line official in question as a ‘whistleblower’.
“What, that’s all right. What did I say?” Kyrgios asked.
“Which word was it? I said I can’t see a thing, that’s all I said”.
Kyrgios later was heard saying he couldn’t see because he’d spent too much time playing shooting game Call of Duty prior to the match.
Nick Kyrgios is complaining he played too much Call of Duty today and it’s ruined his vision. Not making that up.
— Sean Kent (@seankent) September 1, 2019
Nick Kyrgios, who is moaning about the lights on Arthur Ashe - "Call of Duty has ruined me. I can't see bro. I low-key can't see." #USOpen
— Uche Amako (@UcheAmako) September 1, 2019
"Call of Duty has ruined me?" KYRGIOS, Nick
LOL— Lucas ⓟ (@lusep_) September 1, 2019
“Playing Call of Duty has ruined me, i cant see a thing!" Nick Kyrgios in the history books. Freud, Einstein and Ghandi are out! #Kyrgios #Usopen #Cod
— Creatiffdutch (@creatiffdutch) September 1, 2019
Nick Kyrgios complaining to the umpire about not being able to see the ball bc the lights are too bright and bc “call of duty has ruined [him]” is praxis #USOpen
— F (@jobscantfindme) September 1, 2019
Rublev holds a two-set lead over Kyrgios, winning the first two through tiebreakers, 7-6, 7-6.
The Russian youngster holds a 3-2 lead over Kyrgios in the third set.
Jovial Kyrgios’ hilarious moment with interviewer
Kyrgios isn’t shy when it comes to social media either, but one of his Tweets came back to bite him prior to his match with Rublev.
He must have had the TV on earlier in the day, posting ‘who the hell is Tom Rinaldi and why is he commentating a tennis match when he has no idea what’s going on’.
Who the hell is Tom Rinaldi and why he is commentating a tennis match when he has no idea what’s going on
— Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) August 31, 2019
Rinaldi is a journalist employed by ESPN, who later showed up to do a somewhat awkward, but nonetheless funny, pre-match interview with Kyrgios.
The Australian star couldn’t help but crack a smile when Rinaldi went out of his way to introduce himself at the beginning of their interview.
“Nick, Tom Rinaldi very good to see you,” the ESPN reporter said at the beginning of their conversation.
“That’s hilarious,” Kyrgios said in reply.
Awkward 😅
Nick Kyrgios tweeted about Tom Rinaldi's tennis analysis and then had to do a pre-match interview with him the same day #USOpen pic.twitter.com/uSI65AifXI— ESPN (@espn) September 1, 2019