Nick Kyrgios escaped disqualification from the Australian Open doubles draw after hitting a young boy with a ball right after play had stopped.
Though Novak Djokovic was ejected from the 2020 US Open following a similar incident, in which he hit a line judge in the throat by smacking a ball after a point, umpire Eva Assderaki-Moore let Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis continue, and they eventually won in three sets, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, to move onto the semifinals.
Kyrgios — while seemingly trying to entertain his rowdy supporters — hit a ball into the crowd after a let was called and it whacked into a small child. He gave the boy a racket, which helped calm the situation.
“I saw it heading towards the kid and I thought, ‘Oh no, I am getting defaulted,’ ” Kyrgios told Australia’s Channel Nine. “I was glad he was OK and I gave him the racket.”
It’s not the first time Kyrgios has been at the center of controversy. He was given a 16-week suspension in 2019 following unsportsmanlike behavior at the Cincinnati Masters tournament. The same year, he defaulted a match in Rome for throwing a chair on the court and swearing at a linesperson.
More recently, he defended Djokovic in his legal battle with the Australian government. Djokovic was deported from the country after the government rejected his request for a medical exemption to its COVID vaccine mandate.
Kyrgios, playing on home territory, exited the singles draw in the second round with a loss to Danill Medvedev, but has been a hit in doubles playing alongside fellow Aussie Kokkinakis.
“Unreal scenes,” Kyrgios said following the quarterfinal win. “I’m not finished. I want to win this f—–g thing!”
They’ll play Spaniard Marcel Granollers and Argentinian Horacio Zeballos in the semis on Wednesday night.
