Nick Kyrgios opened a cheeky poll on Twitter Monday asking how many years he would be suspended if he hit a referee with a ball, after 17-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic was not a default at the US Open. The Australian has fought an ongoing battle with the Serb in recent months over his ill-fated series of Adria Tour shows, lashing out at the “stupidity” of the world number one after several players contracted the coronavirus. And he was quick to give his opinion after Djokovic was sensationally disqualified from the US Open for hitting a female linesman in the throat with a ball that was fired in disgust after losing his serve.
Fuel Kyrgios, who was punished with a 16-week suspension last year for a series of outbursts on the court, took to social media to ask his followers what would happen if he had hit the linesman.
“Trade me for the pranksters incident,” he said, using the nickname Djokovic.
“‘Accidentally hitting the ball boy in the throat’. How many years would they ban me?” Asked the Australian.
The options given were five, 10 or 20 years with the poll attracting more than 60,000 responses in its first hour, with the majority voting for 20 years.
The United States Tennis Association said Djokovic, who apologized, would lose all qualifying points and prize money from the tournament.
While most took Kyrgios’s tweet as a lighthearted dig, not everyone was impressed.
“Slight difference: it made it much worse,” one user noted, while another wrote: “Same penalty as Djoko. Stop victimizing yourself, keep going.”
The ATP opened an investigation into Nick Kyrgios last year after an explosive collapse at the Cincinnati Masters where he broke two rackets and launched an abusive tirade against the chair umpire before appearing to spit at the official.
He was fined $ 113,000 for ball abuse, leaving the court without permission, audible obscenity and unsportsmanlike conduct during his loss to Russia’s Karen Khachanov.
Promoted
While Kyrgios was penalized for the Cincinnati outbursts, he avoided further punishment by calling the ATP “quite corrupt” during the 2019 US Open after “clarifying” his comment.
Kyrgios, ranked just 40th but with a great draw card, chose to remain in Canberra and not play in this year’s US Open due to the pandemic.
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