Shanghai Masters: Nick Kyrgios booed off court after losing to Mischa Zverev - 'If fans don't like it, leave'

Sour exit: Nick Kyrgios lost his second-round match to Mischa Zverev
AFP/Getty Images
Vaishali Bhardwaj12 October 2016

Nick Kyrgios was booed off court at the Shanghai Masters on Wednesday after the 21-year-old appeared to stop trying against opponent Mischa Zverev.

The Australian delivered a tame serve during the second-round match before making his way back to his seat - despite the fact that Zverev was still playing.

As the 21-year-old walked slowly to his seat, the crowd were heard booing while the umpire told him: "You can't play like that."

The comment resulted in Kyrgios getting involved in a heated debate with the official before he went on to lose the match 6-3, 6-1. After the defeat, the Australian admitted he "took the easy way out" but hit back at fans who weren't happy with his behaviour on court.

When asked if he could understand the frustrations of the crowd, Kyrgios replied: "Not at all. If they knew what they were talking about they'd be on the tennis court being successful.

"They don't know what I'm going through. I don't owe them anything. It's my choice.

"If you don't like it, I didn't ask you to come and watch, just leave. If you're so good at giving advice and so good at tennis, why aren't you as good as me? Why aren't you on the tour?"

However, he later took to his Twitter account later to apologise for his performance on Wednesday.

"Not good enough today on many levels, I'm better than that. I can go on about excuses but there are none. Sorry #StillAWorkInProgress," he tweeted.

The incident comes just a day after Kyrgios said he was "bored" during his first-round win over Sam Querrey.

Despite his sour exit from the Shanghai Masters, Kyrgios is enjoying a rich vein of form - with his Japan Open win last week pushing him up to a career high ranking of 14.

He could yet qualify for the ATP World Tour Finals in London later this year, but the 21-year-old said after losing to Zverev that he "couldn't care less" about appearing in the season-ending tournament.

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