'Show me the rule': Nick Kyrgios in bizarre pre-game blow up
Nick Kyrgios has kept his run of tense exchanges with umpires going during bizarre scenes that preceded his US Open second round match.
The Aussie firebrand has courted plenty of recent controversy after claiming the ATP was “corrupt” in the wake of his record Cincinnati Masters fine.
On Thursday (Friday AEST) at Flushing Meadows, Kyrgios found himself in the crosshairs of another umpire, before his match against Frenchman Antoine Hoang had even begun.
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Kyrgios, wearing a shirt from his clothing giant sponsor Nike, decided to turn up his collar to reveal a three word phrase.
Rather than the 'Just Do It' phrase that has become synonymous with Nike, Kyrgios' shirt revealed the words 'Just Do You'.
But, in an apparent dress-code breach, the tournament supervisor instructed Kyrgios to change the shirt after the warm-up.
Kyrgios was initially having none of it, demanding to see the rule book.
"I'm not going to play until you show me the rule," he fumed.
"I want to know the rule. I want to see the rule.
"I've seen shirts worse."
The drama didn't seem to affect Kyrgios, with the Aussie breaking his French opponent to get off to a flying start.
The bizarre scenes drew a mixed reaction from fans on social media, with a packed house in the stands treated to some early soap opera.
Nick Kyrgios has a logo on his popped collar. I- pic.twitter.com/7j1mE23APM
— Tumaini Carayol (@tumcarayol) August 29, 2019
Kyrgios standing his ground.."What's the rule about it? " (Having to hide a "Just Do You" on his shirt collar")
"You're the umpire, You should know the rules..Fine, call the supervisor, I want to see the rule"
Good!— Audrey (@AudreyAurus1) August 29, 2019
On a packed to capacity Grandstand court, Nick Kyrgios puts his collar up and reveals the words 'Just do you'. All eyes are on the Australian after his antics the other night #USOpen
— Uche Amako (@UcheAmako) August 29, 2019
Nick Kyrgios had his collar flipped up and "Just Do You" on the back of it. The chair umpire made him put his collar down so if you had "before the match" in the Kyrgios melt down pool you win!
— Eagle-Eyed Social Media User Dan Why-Ner (@DanWeiner) August 29, 2019
Oh for goodness sake, the umpire has already intervened... to make @NickKyrgios put his collar down. Get a grip ref 🙄
— Peter Divers (@ptdivers) August 29, 2019
Unsurprisingly, umpire tells Kyrgios that he can't play with that. Kyrgios calls the supervisor before the match begins: "I wanna see the rule. I wanna see the rule. I'm not going to play until you show me the rule."
We begin.— Tumaini Carayol (@tumcarayol) August 29, 2019
Kyrgios in fine fashion. Calls for supervisor before the match. Some beef about his "Just Do It" collar being flipped up. Said he would not play until he sees a rule that says he can't do that. He has since relented and match has started. #USOpen
— Frank Pingue (@FrankPingue) August 29, 2019
That’s the biggest crowd of the week on Grandstand. For NK pic.twitter.com/gFEPgxUTjV
— José Morgado (@josemorgado) August 29, 2019
Kyrgios, already facing two ATP investigations for his conduct during and after his previous two matches in Cincinnati and New York, reluctantly agreed to play with his collar down - then came out firing.
The 28th seed broke Hoang, the world No.104 and making his US Open debut, in the very first game of the match and never looked back.
Facing a potential suspension after the season's final grand slam as the ATP investigates his pair of "major offences", Kyrgios next plays Russian Andrey Rublev on Saturday for a place in the last 16.
He could meet countryman Alexei Popyrin in the fourth round after the fast-rising 20-year-old continued his superb first full season at the slams with a valiant four-set win over world No.47 Mikhail Kukushkin.
Popyrin fought back from a set and a service break down to equal his charge to the Australian Open third round with a 2-6 7-5 6-3 6-2 victory over the seasoned Kazakh.
Popyrin will play Italian Matteo Berrettini after the 24th seed took out Australian No.3 Jordan Thompson 7-5 7-6 (7-5) 4-6 6-1.
Thanasi Kokkinakis's tournament is also over after the luckless star was forced to withdraw from his scheduled centre-court showdown with Rafael Nadal with a recurrence of a pec muscle strain.
Kokkinakis battled for almost four hours on Tuesday to beat Ilya Ivashka in four sets in what was the 24-year-old's first main-draw win at a grand slam since the 2015 French Open.
"I guess I'm just not ready for grand slams yet. It's a bitter pill to swallow," Kokkinakis said.
But Alex de Minaur joined Kyrgios and Popyrin in the third round with an impressive 6-3 7-5 6-3 win over seded Chilean Christan Garin.
Seventh seed Kei Nishikori, a finalist at Flushing Meadows in 2014, stands between de Minaur and a spot in the second week at a major for the first time.
With AAP
