MELBOURNE, Australia – Australian tennis player Nick Kyrgios advanced to the final of the Australian Open doubles on Thursday, but not without breaking his racket and giving his middle finger to the public, faithful to the image of the “bad boy”.
Kyrgios and his partner Thanasis Kokkinakis will face Matt Ebden and Max Purcell for an Australian final, the first after 42 years.
He defeated the pair of Argentina Horacio Zeballos and Spain Marcel Granollers 7-6 (4), 6-4 in the semifinals.
During the match, Kyrgios complained that the machine was checking the string of the net before interrupting the service as it led 4-2 in the 1st set. He then turned his anger on the crowd at Rod Laver Arena, who appeared very loud for his preferences between his first and second serve, when he and his partner had previously encouraged the same crowd to support him.
All this before giving his middle finger to the public, hitting a ball on a wall around the field and breaking his racket after losing a serve.
“When will you calm this crowd, old man?” “, Started the Australian player to the referee James Keothavong. “Will you let them scream while I serve?” “It has already happened four times in this game.”
However, Kokkinakis himself had felt earlier in the tournament that the more agitated the audience, the better for everyone, speaking of Melbourne spectators.
