Nick Kyrgios in ugly spat with US Open semi-finalist
Nick Kyrgios has taken a bizarre swipe at US Open semi-finalist Pablo Carreno Busta, all the way from Australia.
Kyrgios opted not to travel to America for the New York grand slam, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t watching closely.
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Carreno Busta will take on Alexander Zverev for a shot in the US Open final on Friday, but his performance at Flushing Meadows hasn’t impressed Kyrgios.
Earlier in the tournament Kyrgios took a dig at the Spaniard on Twitter before deleting it.
“If clay didn’t exist. Dude wouldn’t have even been close to top 50,” Kyrgios wrote.
After beating Denis Shapalov to stamp his ticket into the semis, Carreno Busta was asked about Kyrgios’ dig.
“He must be pretty bored… when he comes back to tournaments, we will talk about him because he deserves it,” the 20th seed said.
“And in the meantime, well nothing, he will continue to tweet from home.”
But Kyrgios wasn’t about to let Carreno Busta’s response pass through to the keeper, taking aim at his rival for a second time.
Posting a screenshot of their head-to-head record (which Kyrgios leads 2-0), the Aussie wrote: “Obviously would have love to be playing the US Open but due to conditions didn’t feel comfortable.
“Yes Carreno Busta I’m a little bored and I would rather be chopping you again. 2-0 #shhh.”
Carreno Busta and Zverev in US Open semi-final
Zverev and Pablo Carreno Busta will face off in the last four of the US Open after both surviving a stern test of their nerves to become grand slam semi-finalists.
The fifth-seeded Zverev got off to a slow start but raised his game to advance 1-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-1) 6-3 despite 12 double faults and 46 unforced errors against Borna Coric.
Coric made a flying start and needed only 24 minutes to wrap up the first set during which he took advantage of a flat Zverev.
However, Zerev showed plenty of fight in the second set as he came back from a break down and 4-2 to level the match by winning the tiebreak before unleashing an extended roar.
After trading early breaks in the third set, Zverev cruised through another tiebreak while a single break in the fourth set proved decisive.
“I just started playing maybe a little bit more aggressive because if I would've played the way I played (at the start), it's not the level for a quarter-final match at a grand slam,” Zverev said.
The German's next opponent will be Carreno Busta, who outlasted an erratic Shapovalov 3-6 7-6(5) 7-6(4) 0-6 6-3 in a seesaw battle to advance to his second US Open semi-final.
The 29-year-old Spaniard, the oldest of the men's quarter-finalists, had looked down and out when his Canadian opponent served him a bagel in the fourth set.
However, after getting some treatment to his lower back, the 2017 semi-finalist fought back gamely to seal the deciding set in a match that lasted more than four hours.
“I'm destroyed,” Carreno Busta said, “but I'm very, very happy.”
with AAP
