Recently retired Australian Olympic champion Sally Pearson has lashed out at Nick Kyrgios after yet another epic on-court meltdown at the Cincinnati Masters last week.
Even by Kyrgios' standards, it was an all-time blow-up, with the Aussie wildchild going down 7-6 (3) 6-7 (4) 6-2 to Karen Kachanov.
During the three-set defeat, Kyrgios had another foul-mouthed back and forth with chair umpire Fergus Murphy.
He also smashed two racquets during a toilet break and ranted about the time he takes between serves in comparison to Rafael Nadal.
MORE: Murray condemns Kyrgios' meltdown | Kyrgios cops hefty fine for meltdown
After losing, Kyrgios appeared to spit at Murphy, before calling him a "f***ing tool."
Kyrgios was later hit with fines amounting to AU $166,700 and faces the possibility of being suspended as well.
Speaking on Channel Nine's Sport Sunday, Pearson, who announced her reitrement from top-level competition a week and a half ago, said Kyrgios' antics are taking away from the sport.
"I'm seeing a very frustrated athlete and I'm feeling very frustrated watching it," she said.
"It's disappointing because it takes away the talk of sport. We're talking about his personality, we're talking about his attitude.
"I want to be talking about how he plays.
"We talk about Roger Federer and how he plays and how beautiful he is to watch.
"Nick Kyrgios? All we talk about is his personality and his attitude.
"What message is that sending to kids?"#9SportsSunday LIVE on @Channel9#9WWOS #Tennis @sallypearson pic.twitter.com/Vgpmk81aJI
— Wide World of Sports (@wwos) August 18, 2019
"For me, I like to talk about sport. I like to talk about how well they do and sometimes, if they play disappointingly, you can talk about that - but at least we're talking about the sport."
Pearson continued, saying Kyrgios sets a terrible example for kids.
"I know he can sell tickets with his attitude, but I don't know whether that's the right message to be sending to the public to be like this," she said.
"There was talk that he gave one of his racquets away to the children in the stands that was all smashed up and broken.
"What message is that sending to kids? That it's okay to do this? That it's okay to smash your racquets and you're gonna get more publicity out of this, you're gonna get more sponsorships.
"I don't know whether that's the right thing to do."
Pearson finished, saying Kyrgios does have a good side, but that he should show it more often.
"I've spoken to another tennis player before who said he's a really great guy, and that's great, I want to see more of that," she said.
"He can put on a show when he's good as well. So why doesn't he be good more often.
"I think he'd be a really great guy. I don't know Nick at all, but you do see his good side, and his good side if fantastic.
"I think we should see more of it."
