Nick Kyrgios has clashed with a chair umpire during only his second match back from a long injury layoff, falling 6-4 6-7 4-6 to Japanese qualifier Sho Shimabukuro in the Round of 16 at the BOSS Open in Stuttgart.
The 31-year-old’s comeback bid was once again overshadowed by his behaviour on court, after he and the umpire disagreed over whether he should have been informed of an important rule change during the third set. Kyrgios argued he should have been told at 1-1 in the final set that it was the last game before new balls were to be introduced. “I don’t know if you’re new or anything, but as long as I’ve been on tour, the game before, it’s been like ‘new balls next game’,” Kyrgios said. “Because that’s courtesy. You know how you hold us accountable, I think we should hold you accountable too, yeah?”
Despite the dispute, Kyrgios produced a battling performance, being broken just once across the entire match. He nevertheless fell short of recording back-to-back wins for the first time since 2022.
The former Wimbledon finalist’s return to professional tennis has been a long time coming, following a wrist reconstruction and four knee surgeries that have kept him sidelined for much of the past few seasons. Despite the extensive list of injuries, he has shown little sign of rust physically during his comeback matches.
Kyrgios, born in Canberra, was once a top-15 player and one of the most feared competitors on the tour, particularly on grass. His career highlight came in 2014, when as a 19-year-old he stunned then-world No.1 Rafael Nadal in one of the most famous upsets of his career. He went on to reach a Grand Slam final at Wimbledon in 2019, before losing to Novak Djokovic in the 2022 championship match.
