Jannik Sinner has admitted he didn’t understand why Nick Kyrgios launched a tirade at the umpire during their round-of-16 match at the Miami Open. The ninth seed defeated the Aussie 7-6(3) 6-3 in their first meeting, benefitting from a point penalty and game penalty after Kyrgios received two code violations for his on-court behaviour.
Kyrgios had put on clinical performances to make it to the last-16 in Miami, failing to drop a set as he said he was “keeping [his] head down”, with his scalps including a 51-minute victory over world No 7 Andrey Rublev. He then faced Sinner after the pair were due to meet in the Indian Wells round-of-16 recently before the 20-year-old withdrew with illness.
They were able to make up for it in the very next tournament, meeting at the same stage in Miami on Tuesday, but it was a different story for the world No 102 compared to his earlier rounds. Early in the match, the 26-year-old who was the oldest player left in the men’s draw aired his grievances with the Grandstand court conditions, having played his three other matches on Stadium.
He then became more agitated after the chair umpire’s walky-talky accidentally went off mid-rally when Sinner was serving late in the first set. After the Italian held, the former world No 13 launched a tirade at umpire Carlos Bernardes at the changeover as he claimed the offocial should be “fired on the spot”.
“Get a new set of referees, these guys don’t know how to do s***,” he blasted. “Walky-talkies going off. It’s a joke. He is a joke. Get rid of every single staff and start over. Everything. I will run the sport. I could do 100x a better job. Marketing. Everything. You guys have no idea. None. You guys can’t even ref right.”
JUST IN: Ukrainian tennis pro gives heartbreaking update with ‘nowhere to go’
The six-time title winner continued his rants into the next few changeovers and the first set tiebreak, where he received a point penalty after an earlier initial warning before eventually losing the breaker 7-3. He then raged at Bernardes for giving him an unsportsmanlike conduct violation, demanding a supervisor come to the court as he smashed his racket, earning him a second code violation which resulted in a game penalty, handing Sinner a break to start the second set.
Throughout the match, the ninth seed stayed calm and appeared as though he were playing any other match, not letting Kyrgios’ ourburst on the other side of the net affect his performance. And speaking after securing a 7-6(3) 6-3 win over the Aussie to advance to the quarter-finals, he admitted he didn’t understand what was happening down the other end of the court.
Explaining how he stayed composed during the rollercoaster match, Sinner said: “It is tough, of course, but I think I have done a great job today, because usually you don’t play many matches like this, so you have to be in the present moment, as I said, and I think I have done a great job about that. Also, I knew before the match that I had to raise the level a little bit, because, you know, he’s the kind of player who push a lot the ball. When he’s serving well, also his return gets better. I tried to stay there every point, which I have done, so I think it was a positive match.”
DON’T MISS
Nadal gives French Open boost as Spaniard seen training amid injury
Djokovic and Nadal face challenge amid Wawrinka plan to return to top
Kyrgios thanks Osaka for ‘pulling the pin’ on mental health struggles
Admitting he didn’t know what was going on with his opponent, the five-time title winner added: “Oh, ask him. I mean, I don’t know. What I understood, the court there is a little bit different than the center court. He usually played on the center court, which he said it was a little bit slower. The rest, I didn’t understood. I mean, I just tried to stay in my zone, and, yeah, I think that was the right choice.”
Sinner will next face the winner of a last-16 clash between Frances Tiafoe and Francisco Cerundolo. The 20-year-old is defendng points from reaching his maiden Masters 1000 final here last year, where he lost to Hubert Hurkacz.
For all the latest Sports News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
