London - Arab Today
Nick Kyrgios fired another verbal volley at Wimbledon officials during a heated 7-6 (7/5), 6-3, 6-4 second round win over Argentina's Juan Monaco on Wednesday.
Kyrgios has a reputation as one of the most volatile players on the men's tour and the Australian youngster is already facing a fine after shouting "dirty scum" following a row with umpire Mohamed Lahyani in his first-round match against Diego Schwartzman.
The 20-year-old had insisted he was directing the abuse at himself rather than Lahyani, but he did himself no favours with more ranting at umpire Carlos Bernardes and a line judge during his one hour and 39 minute-victory against Monaco.
With the sizzling temperatures approaching 34 degrees Celsius, Kyrgios, who faces Canadian seventh seed Milos Raonic in the third round, quickly lost his cool on Court 18, even though the 26th seed was dominating the match.
He started off by grumbling about the hot weather and his own performance, saying: "Every time I bend over, I feel like I'm gonna pass out" and then "I can't make a ball, I can't make a ball, I can't do anything right now."
Kyrgios, who made his name with a stunning fourth round win over Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon last year, continued to let off steam and with the youngster's grumbling showing no signs of abating, a line judge standing nearby went to speak to Bernardes.
The umpire said something to the Australian in response to that information, prompting Kyrgios to angrily snap: "Is that a threat? Does it feel good to be in the chair up there? Do you feel strong up there?"
Kyrgios wasn't finished and he told the line judge: "You're a real champion. Did you get your point across?"
Throughout all his moaning, Kyrgios was still playing well enough to overwhelm world number 35 Monaco and he has yet to drop a set in this year's tournament.
But his stroppy behaviour is certain to overshadow his impressive form once again.
It isn't the first time Kyrgios, who split with long-time coach Todd Larkham just before Wimbledon, has fallen foul of the officials at a major event.
He received four fines totalling $11,000 at the Australian Open in January after shouting at one spectator to "get off your fucking phone", while berating some others for sneaking out halfway through his fourth round match.
Kyrgios, who in January became the first teenager to make the Australian Open quarter-finals since 1990, also recently made headlines by expressing his disdain for abstaining from sex before matches.
Source: AFP