Nick Kyrgios unfazed after swearing outburst during Edmund win forces BBC to apologise

James Pavey

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Nick Kyrgios unfazed after swearing outburst during Edmund win forces BBC to apologise image

With an eye on Wimbledon, Nick Kyrgios continued his strong grass court form with a gritty win over Kyle Edmund at the Fever-Tree Championships at Queen's Club in London.

After beating two-time Wimbledon champion Andy Murray in the previous round, Kyrgios swept aside Murray's fellow Brit Edmund 7-6 (7-3), 6-7 (5-7), 6-3.

A mixture of powerful groundstrokes and destructive serving - sending down 32 aces - provided the anchor to the Aussie's three-set win.

However, while winning through to a quarter-finals berth at Queen's should have been the main talking point, Kyrgios was the subject of a swearing outburst that forced broadcaster BBC to apologise.

MORE: Djokovic beats Dimitrov at Queen's as Kyrgios lays down a marker | 'Fortunate' Federer closes in on Halle title after win over Paire

As Kyrgios fought to close out the match in the deciding set, he swore several times towards his player's box in frustration after missing a match point.

After the match, Kyrgios was unflustered by the BBC's move to apologise for his bad language during the match.

"Fine. I don't care," Kyrgios said after being told the BBC had to apologise on air for his rant.

Kyrgios then probed the reporter who asked him about the outburst.

"Do you swear? No, do you swear? Yes or no? Yes or no? Do you swear? Do you swear? Okay, great. Good question," Kyrgios said to the reporter.

Tweeting on Friday morning, Kyrgios acknowledged the showing he and Edmund put on, saying he was "just tryna have some fun".


 

Having battled with several injuries in 2018, Kyrgios has endured a fractured tour.

However, the grass court season could uncover a serious turning point in the 23-year-old's year, with his best tennis in 2018 yet to come.

Kyrgios lost to world number one Roger Federer in a hardfought semi-final at the Stuttgart Open last week, while the Murray win at Queen's demonstrated that consistent form is just around the corner. 

Coming into the Edmund match, the Aussie had won his only previous ATP World tour meeting with the Briton at the 2014 Nottingham Challenger event.

 

Against Edmund, Kyrgios started strongly in grabbing the first set on a tiebreak, before the serving duel saw a second-set tiebreak won by the local favourite.

However, Kyrgios broke Edmund early in the deciding set, with an outrageous tweener lob in the final set showing the Aussie was starting to find his rhythm.


 

Kyrgios saw out the victory in two hours and 11 minutes, with the outburst at his box the only blip on an otherwise solid outing.


 

Kyrgios will face defending champion Feliciano Lopez in Friday's quarter-finals.

Meanwhile, unseeded 12-time grand slam champion Novak Djokovic reached the quarter-finals after beating second-seed Grigor Dimitrov.

The win over Dimitrov marked Djokovic's first victory over a top-10 opponent since last May. 

James Pavey

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