Nick Kyrgios lived up to his reputation during his quarter-final clash against Rafael Nadal at the 2022 Indian Wells. The match had it all, with underarm tweener serve, mid-match tantrums with the crowd, heated exchange with the umpire, and then a racket smash to wrap it up at the end of the match.
Kyrgios was involved in a spat with a heckler, who was repeatedly yelling during the match. The Australian earlier received a code violation after he smashed his racquet. While down 0-6 in the tie-breaker of the opening set, Kyrgios swore at the heckler who had disrupted him during his serve. With this, he received a point penalty and lost the first set.
However, the heckler was carrying on with his unruly behavior, and the chair umpire, Carlos Bernardes didn’t let him slip by. He called him out saying he was the only one interrupting the match, in midst of thousands in the stadium.
“Ten thousand people who want to watch tennis here and you are the only one screaming like crazy,” Bernardes said, which met with rousing applause from the crowd.
"Ten thousand people who want to watch tennis here and you are the only one screaming like crazy" 🎤
Bernardes setting a fan straight! 👏 pic.twitter.com/MDVMTTT1kD
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) March 17, 2022Earlier Kyrgios was furious with the umpire and was involved in a heated exchange. He launched into an expletive-laden rant on the umpire for not intervening earlier and accused him of doing a ‘terrible job.’
“How long? If you did something about it before maybe it wouldn’t have happened. It happens again and again. Look at the f***ing score. It’s your job to control that. If you’re going to allow that to keep happening over and over and over again. Say something” he said.
“It’s bull***t man. The crowd can’t scream things out. You see how it affects players bro. You guys do a terrible job with that. You don’t protect the players from any of that stuff.”
‘You should just be quiet’: Nick Kyrgios has a stern response for the heckler
Kyrgios was still furious over the heckler and gave a stern direct message to him at the post-match conference'”Don’t tell me how to play…just be quiet.’ The Australian said it was obvious that the crowd was going to support Nadal, but said it was uncalled for to interrupt the play while he is serving.
“I just want people to know that you’re a spectator. You’ve bought tickets to come watch us play. At least don’t scream out before first and second serve. I know when you play Rafa, 99% of the crowd is going to go for these guys. When you’re a spectator and you’re watching professionals play tennis, you should just be quiet. Don’t tell me how to play. Like, you could not win a single point against Rafa Nadal. Just sit on your seat and watch me play tennis. That’s it,” he said.
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