Nick Kyrgios: Australian superstar smashes racquet, gives it to fan after beating Stefanos Tsitsipas in Halle

Once again it’s Nick Kyrgios’s on-court antics in the spotlight after his impressive 7-5 6-2 6-4 win over Stefanos Tsitsipas at the Terra Wortmann Open in Halle to reach the quarter-finals.

In what might be described as another fiery incident – similar to what we saw in last week’s Stuttgart Open defeat to Andy Murray – Kyrgios was given a warning after smashing his racquet on the floor in frustration at losing the opening set.

It was the fourth time Kyrgios had met Tsitsipas on court, in what was set to be a mouth-watering second round clash, and towards the end of the first set it was all to play for as the pair found themselves neck-and-neck.

Kyrgios had already complained to the umpire over the Hawk-eye system earlier in the set, and, after the Australian lost the first set to Tsitsipas, the incident with the racquet happened.

The world No. 65 angrily smashed his racquet on the floor at the end of the first set, but managed to escape with a warning unlike in the match against Murray when he suffered a game penalty.

Kyrgios managed to turn his fortunes around and claim the victory to set-up a quarter-final tie with Pablo Carreno Busta, and after the match walked over to the crowd and gifted his broken racquet to a spectator.

He then proceeded to offer the crowd a round of applause before heading off the court to begin preparations for his last-eight clash.

Jack Draper lost his round-of-16 tie at Queen’s Club. He was beaten 6-2 7-6(2) in straight sets by Emil Ruusuvuori, who needed a tie break victory to settle the second set.

Dan Evans and Grigor Dimitrov were also on the losing end in their round of 16 doubles match against American pair Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul. It ended 6-2 7-6 10-6 to the Americans, with Fritz and Paul securing the crucial second set after a 7-3 tie break.

– – –