Nick Kyrgios slapped with Australian Open fine for incident during Rafael Nadal loss

Nick Kyrgios has been hit with a fine for breaking his racket during a moment of madness at the Australian Open.

The world No 26 had been well behaved by his own standards during his run to the fourth round.

But frustration got the better of him during a third set tiebreak and he launched his racket against the ground.

The head of the racket bent towards the handle and was unusable.

British umpire James Keothavong gave Kyrgios a code violation for the incident as the 24-year-old attempted to kindly pass the broken equipment to a member of the crowd.

Kyrgios had to get a new racket from his bag but that could not help him save the tiebreak or the match as he lost 6-3, 3-6, 7-6, 7-6.

The fine will be small change to the 24-year-old, who took home £155,192 (AUD $300,000) for reaching the last 16.

Kyrgios was graceful in defeat as he hailed to world No 1, bringing their bitter feud to an end.

“I just couldn’t get a ball past him,” he said. “I was trying to serve and volley, trying to dropshot.

“Eventually I would have to win the point three times to win a point.

“That’s just the champion he is, the player he is. He makes you play the extra ball. I thought he played well, considering how slow it was.

“I mean, he served really well, I thought. Hit his backhand slice really well.

“I mean, he played well. He just played the bigger points well, better than I did.”

Meanwhile, Kyrgios also paid tribute to NBA legend Kobe Bryant who was tragically killed in a helicopter crash on Sunday.

“No, I never met Kobe,” he explained. “But basketball is practically my life. I watch it every day. I’ve been following it for as long as I can remember.

“When I woke up to the news, it was pretty emotional. It was pretty heavy, like, all day.

“Obviously I was having basketball on at my house, watching the games. I was heavy. Yeah, it’s just tough. It’s horrible news.

“If anything, it motivated me. If you look at the things he stood for, what he wanted to be remembered by, I felt like, if anything, it helped me tonight. When I was down a break in the fourth, I was definitely thinking about it. I fought back.

“Rafa was really good tonight. Played too good. I mean, I had chances. I was a couple of points away from the third set and the fourth set.

“It happens. I mean, if anything, it helped me today.”

source: express.co.uk