Kyrgios fined for spitting and swearing during US Open second round

Nick Kyrgios has been fined $7,500 for ‘spitting and audible obscenities’ during his win at the second round of the US Open on Wednesday, tournament organisers confirmed, reported Reuters.

The fine is the largest of the tournament so far and follows on from a number of fines in the 27-year-old Australian’s career.

Kyrgios was in an angsty and talkative mood during his match against Benjamin Bonzi, beating the Frenchman 7-6(3) 6-4 4-6 6-4, but when he was broken in the fourth set he appeared to lose control of his emotions.

He spat, and then said in the direction of his player’s box: “Go home if you’re not going to (expletive) support me, bro.

“You are not a spectator.”

The Wimbledon finalist also remarked on the smell of cannabis at the Louis Armstrong Stadium.

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Kyrgios has already been fined for spitting this year. He was censured for spitting in the direction of a fan at the first round of Wimbledon, where he reached the final, and also for swearing at the umpire in his fourth-round clash against Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Kyrgios did not address the spitting incident in his post-match press conference, but said he was hoping to reward his team’s hard work with a deep run in New York.

“I just don’t want to let people down. I feel like I’m representing so many people. I know how much work goes into it with my team, there’s a lot of people supporting me,” he said.

“I feel like this is probably the most pressure I’ve had on myself. I know that I’m capable of going to a Slam final now and I really want to achieve. I want to bring my team with me. I want to do it together.

“I’m definitely a perfectionist on the court. I feel like I can play like four or five great points, then I play one point and I’m going nuts. It’s OK, I don’t know. It’s hard.

“I want to have success with certain people. I want to do it. That’s probably why I’m having such high expectations and standards.”