Nick Kyrgios was told to “stop moaning” by a tennis fan during his fourth round match at Wimbledon against Brandon Nakashima. Early in the fifth set, the Australian challenged a call thinking it was out, but the hawk-eye showed the ball landed comfortably in.
In what proved to be his only exchange with the umpire during the three-hour encounter, Kyrgios said to the official: "You’re sitting in a chair that’s like that high, so tell me if it’s in or out. Yeah I’ll waste a challenge if I want.” The umpire replied: “I didn't see the ball. I told you honestly I didn’t see it.”
A bemused Kyrgios added: “But how do you not see that though?” And the umpire could only respond with: “Because I’m not seeing it.” This prompted a frustrated member of the crowd to bellow in the direction of the world number 40: “Stop moaning!” - and centre court erupted with laughter.
Commentator Andrew Castle suggested the big-serving Aussie take a look at himself as he said: “How about you Nick? You were the one who challenged it.” Kyrgios proceeded to shake his head with disbelief but knuckled down to win a deciding set and book his spot in the quarter-finals 4-6 6-4 7-6 (7-2) 3-6 6-2.
The tennis star, who has often been criticised for his lack of application at times, dug deep to regain the advantage after a poor end to the fourth set. He also struggled with a shoulder injury during the encounter but after taking painkillers and receiving regular treatment, it began to loosen up.
Kyrgios will play Chile's Cristian Garin in the last eight after he battled back from two sets down against Alex de Minaur to reach this stage of a Grand Slam for the very first time. "It wasn't anywhere near my best performance level-wise but I'm super happy to get through and I fought really hard," said Kyrgios post-match.
"I've played a lot of tennis in the past month and a half and I'm proud of the way I steadied the ship." He had some kind words for his opponent who produced a valiant performance in his first match on centre court.
"Obviously Brandon hasn’t played on this court that much, I think that was his first time," Kyrgios added. "All these experiences I’ve had, I think that’s what got me over the line today. First I just wanna say hell of an effort from Brandon, hell of a player, he’s 20-years-old and he’s gonna do some special things that’s for sure."
