Australian Nick Kyrgios has been fined $10,000 by the ATP World Tour for his inexcusable outburst against Stan Wawrinka. Last night, Kyrgios said to the Swiss, “Kokkinakis banged your girlfriend. Sorry to tell you that mate.” It was about late in the second or early in the third set when Kyrgios spouted those words. It remains a mystery about how much was heard from the Swiss, but clearly it impacted him severely.
The Swiss number two retired from the match due to a back injury, and now Kyrgios is set to face American John Isner for a spot in the quarterfinals at the Rogers Cup.
Intolerable behavior from the Aussie
This fine could be the first of a few potential punishments for Kyrgios. In a statement from the ATP they said that they are still reviewing the matter and additional penalties may be forthcoming. The ATP hasn’t fined many people with one of the most notable ones coming in 2009. It was then that Roger Federer, the man who is considered one of the classiest acts in the sport, had a verbal outburst of his own. His fine? A measly $1500.
Although he has never been reprimanded until now, Kyrgios has done many things which would have been considered fineable. Tanking is not fineable but in terms of tennis etiquette, it is completely frowned upon. He also refused to stop play until the tournament director came out at Wimbledon and slammed his racket so hard off the grass that it bounced into the crowd. Despite no one getting hurt at that moment, if someone was hurt however, Kyrgios would have been forced to default the match and something like that could have warranted a significant punishment since it involved the fans of the game.
No hard feelings?
The Aussie put out on his Facebook page a private apology to Wawrinka. He stated that his comments were during the “heat of the moment”. In addition to the private apology, he also included a public one as well stating he truly regrets what has happened and takes full responsibility for it.