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Melbourne - Australia's Nick Kyrgios was slapped with $5 500
in fines on Thursday for swearing and throwing his racquet after his
extraordinary defeat at the Australian Open.
Kyrgios, who also pulled out of the men's doubles
competition, citing injury, was fined $3 000 for an audible obscenity and $2
500 for racquet abuse, organisers said.
The world number 13 committed the offences during the third
set of his second-round match against Andreas Seppi, before slumping to a
five-set loss which left observers baffled.
Kyrgios, 21, was two sets up before he started to unravel in
a casual display which tennis great and TV commentator John McEnroe said gave
the sport a "black eye".
Kyrgios has a history of disciplinary problems and he is
only just returning from a ban for "lack of best efforts" during a
match in Shanghai.
In 2015, he was given a one-month suspended ban for making
lewd comments about Stan Wawrinka's girlfriend while playing the Swiss in
Montreal.
Australian Open organisers said Kyrgios withdrew from the doubles competition, in which he was due to partner Britain's Dan Evans, because of an abdominal injury.
