Greek Australia tennis star Nick Kyrgios has no plans to tone down
his antics after being embroiled in more controversy on the opening day of
Wimbledon.
Kyrgios's angry exchange with chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani
and the threat of a mid-match strike overshadowed his blazing first-round win
over Argentine Diego Schwartzman.
Australia's leading title hope denied calling the Swede
"dirty scum" after courtside microphones picked up the 20-year-old
venting to his support crew following the dispute midway through the third set.
Believing he'd been dudded a point before dropping serve to
fall behind 4-2, Kyrgios told Lahyani: "No, no, no. That's not the
rules" and demanded a senior tournament official come to court two to
settle the issue.
"I will sit down here and wait until whenever he
comes," Kyrgios said before playing on, regaining his composure and
wrapping up the match in just 84 minutes.
Kyrgios was later quizzed about who he was referring to when
he muttered "dirty scum, unbelievable".
"I wasn't referring to the ref at all there. Yeah, I
mean, it was towards myself," he said.
The two-time grand slam quarter-finalist has drawn criticism
for his on-court conduct, with his former Davis Cup captain Pat Rafter last
week saying Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic both needed to mature to maximise their
immense potential.
Kyrgios, though, said the prospect of being fined for his
latest outburst "wouldn't bother me one bit" and vowed to continue
being his own man.
"I play the sport the way I play it. I'm not going to
change," he said.
"The sport needs characters. I feel like it's good when
you see someone that's raw and just plays the game the way they play it,
doesn't really worry about other stuff when they're out there."
Kyrgios's spat wasn't the first time he'd locked horns with
Lahyani, the respected umpire who presided over John Isner's epic 11-hour win
over Nicolas Mahut in 2010.
The Australian received a code for unsportsmanlike conduct
during his victory over Roger Federer in Madrid last month, saying "get
him out of here" to the Swede in reference to a linesman's apparent
incorrect call.
His blow up aside on Monday, Kyrgios could hardly have made
a hotter start to his campaign.
He took the first set in just 17 minutes and, after conjuring
more break points in the first game of the second set, threatened to emulate
countryman Todd Woodbridge's triple-bagel win over Johan Ortegren in Wimbledon
qualifying in 2001.
But the South American held serve to finally get on the
scoreboard before Kyrgios resumed his first-round cakewalk.
A quarter-finalist last year ranked 144th in the world,
Kyrgios is seeded 26th and rated by four-times champion John McEnroe as a title
smokey in 2015.
The 20-year-old next faces either Juan Monaco or Florian
Mayer on Wednesday after dispelling any doubts about his capacity to deliver
following a split from his coach on the tournament eve.
He showed great nerve not to unravel after going down a
service break following his dispute with Lahyani.
"There's a lot of pressure out there. Sometimes you get
lost in the heat of the moment a little bit," Kyrgios said.
"I thought the call was wrong, to be honest. I thought
it was a replay.
"I broke straight back. That's a good sign. I could
easily have let the set turn and focus on the fourth set, but I thought I
fought back well."
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