The ATP has decided to investigate Nick Kyrgios’ comments in which he called termed the ATP as corrupt in a post-match press conference. What does the future hold for the Aussie maverick?
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Kyrgios endured one of the biggest fines in the history of ATP tennis earlier this month when he was asked to cough up $113,000 following a meltdown during the Cincinnati Masters.
Playing against Russia’s Karen Khachanov in a second round match, Kyrgios was fined that amount for unsportsmanlike conduct, verbal abuse, audible obscenity and for leaving the court. He was seen smashing his racquet after leaving the court and the ATP later said they would be looking at the incident if any more sanctions needed to be applied.
He was allowed to participate in the 2019 US Open but after a relatively placid straight-set win over Steve Johnson in the opener, he failed to rein it in during the press conference.
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When asked if the heft fine at the Cincinnati Masters affected him, Kyrgios said he wasn’t too bothered because, “The ATP is pretty corrupt anyway.”
He went on to question the journalists about the relevance of asking about the fine when he had just eased into the second round with a straight-set win.
He added:
“Why are we talking about something that happened three weeks ago when I just chopped up someone first round.”
It was his choice of words, calling the ATP a corrupt body that have now attracted the attention of the governing body.
And while he has attempted to clarify his remarks in a tweet, the ATP has announced “the comments made by Nick Kyrgios after his first round match in New York will be assessed under the Player Major Offense provision under ATP Rules,” according to Reuters.
The investigation is expected to be carried out by the ATP Executive Vice President, Rules & Competition, Gayle David Bradshaw and the penalty, if any, will be determined accordingly.
Interestingly, at that same press conference following his US Open first round win, Kyrgios responded to the journalist, asking him if he had sworn at anyone, explaining it’s a natural response to getting frustrated at times.
Kyrgios has already been thrown out of the Rome Masters this year after he suffered another meltdown in which he smashed his racket into the ground, kicked a water bottle away before throwing his chair on the court in frustration before walking away.
What the ATP might look at now is whether his mitigating tweet in which Kyrgios has looked to explain what he meant in the press conference, could have any effect on their investigation. Kyrgios has admitted it was a wrong choice of words and said he wanted to point out at the double standards in tennis rather than corruption.
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I want to clarify a couple of things…. pic.twitter.com/wRCWcj3tJc
— Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) August 28, 2019
In his tweet Kyrgios admitted his behaviour has been anything but exemplary and has, at times, deserved his penalties but also questioned whether there was consistency over the manner in which the ATP handed out the punishments.
A decision from the ATP is expected soon but till such time Kyrgios will be allowed to compete at the 2019 US Open, taking on Antoine Hoang in his second round match later today.
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