Nick Kyrgios, Novak Djokovic ease through to last 32 at SW19

Sport360 staff 00:34 02/07/2015
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Mail
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • WhatsApp
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Controversial: Nick Kyrgios clashed with officeals for a second time.

    Australia’s Nick Kyrgios kicked up another storm at Wimbledon after the 20-year-old was involved in a heated exchange with an umpire during his victory over Juan Monaco.

    Kyrgios beat Monaco 7-6 (7/5) 6-3 6-4 in the second round but the world number 29 attracted attention again for a number of angry outbursts on Court 18.

    The most controversial occurred at 6-5 in the opening set when a line judge made a complaint to the umpire after Kyrgios had uttered an string of expletives in response to his missed shot. An altercation followed as Kyrgios was heard asking the umpire: “Is that a threat?” and “Does it feel good to be up there in that chair? Does it make you feel strong?”

    Kyrgios also vented his frustration at a group of Australian fans, who are famous for their vocal support and sang songs supporting their compatriot throughout the match. As the supporters began chanting while Kyrgios quarrelled with the umpire, he turned to them and said: “now is not a good time” before later telling them to “stop it”.

    It is the second controversy in three days for Kyrgios, who escaped punishment on Monday after appearing to shout “dirty scum” towards an umpire during his first round win over Diego Schwartzman. Kyrgios insisted he was directing the insult at himself, rather than the official.

    Djokovic breezes past Nieminen
    There was less animosity on Centre Court where defending champion Novak Djokovic cruised to a straight-sets win over Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen.

    Nieminen, who reached the quarter-finals in 2006, is retiring at the end of the season and his final appearance at Wimbledon took just an hour and 32 minutes as Djokovic eased to a 6-4 6-2 6-3 victory.

    Djokovic had to play through the hottest day ever recorded at Wimbledon with the Met Office recording a nearby temperature of 35.7 degrees Celsius. “It wasn’t as bad as I thought,” Djokovic said.

    “People were talking about it and predicting really difficult conditions but I didn’t find it as difficult as I thought it might be.”

    Bernard Tomic in the last 32 will provide a tougher test, although the powerful 27th seed has never beaten Djokovic in the pair’s previous four meetings, which included a Wimbledon quarter-final in 2011.

    Elsewhere, Tomic was less comfortable in the heat as he had to call for medical assistance in the third set of his 7-6 (7/3) 6-4 7-6 (7/5) win over Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert. Ninth seed Marin Cilic was also made to sweat as he squeezed through 6-3 4-6 7-6 (8/6) 4-6 7-5 against Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis while Stan Wawrinka, Milos Raonic and Grigor Dimitrov are also safely through.

    Recommended