Nick Kyrgios’ five badboy moments

John Weaver, in London – Nick Kyrgios will hope his tennis can do the talking when he faces American Brandon Nakashima for a place in the Wimbledon quarter-finals on Monday.

The Australian's antics in his third-round win against Stefanos Tsitsipas on Saturday grabbed the headlines, overshadowing some brilliant tennis.

AFP looks at some of the other famous antics of the 27-year-old over the years.

Racquet smashing

Kyrgios took out his frustration on three tennis racquets after losing the first set to Borna Coric at the 2016 Cincinnati Masters

He demolished the one he was playing with on the hard-court surface before removing two from his bag and destroying those as well.

After mangling his racquets he towelled himself dry.

Kyrgios levelled the match but blew an advantage in the decider, losing it on a tie-break.

Chair rage

One of Kyrgios’s most dramatic outbursts came at the 2019 Italian Open during a match against Casper Ruud after he was given a game penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.

He threw his racquet onto the clay court in fury, kicked his water bottle and hurled a chair on the court to gasps from the crowd before shouting expletives.

Kyrgios, who was disqualified and fined, shouted “I’m done”.

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Wawrinka taunt

Kyrgios drew criticism for making a lewd sexual comment about Stan Wawrinka’s then-girlfriend during a match in Montreal in 2015.

The taunt was picked up by microphones.

“What was said I wouldn’t say to my worst enemy,” tweeted Wawrinka. “To stoop so low is not only unacceptable but also beyond belief.”

Kyrgios later apologised for the remarks.

Not trying

Kyrgios was booed off court in a tanking row at the Shanghai Masters in 2016.

The combustible Kyrgios argued with a fan and the chair umpire as he gave up on a string of points during his 6-3, 6-1 defeat to Germany’s Mischa Zverev.

Kyrgios admitted “taking the easy way out”.

He was fined over the incident and handed an initial eight-week ban, reduced to three after he agreed to see a sports psychologist.

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ATP ban

Kyrgios accused the ATP men's tour of being “pretty corrupt” after being issued with a fine of $113,000 over his behaviour at the 2019 Cincinnati Masters.

The Australian smashed two racquets and used a profanity in describing an umpire as a “tool” during a loss to Russia’s Karen Khachanov.

When subsequently if the fine was a concern, he said: “Not at all. ATP is pretty corrupt anyway. I’m not frustrated at all.”

He subsequently rowed back on his comments, saying he wanted to “clarify” what he had said.

“It was not the correct choice of words and my point and intention was to address what I see as double standards rather than corruption,” Kyrgios in a statement on his Twitter account.

AFP