Roger Federer dug himself out of a hole while Nick Kyrgios got himself into more hot water on a dramatic and controversial day at the Italian Open.
Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic all had to play two matches due to Wednesday’s wash-out, and the Swiss star saved two match points in the second before beating Croatian Borna Coric 2-6 6-4 7-6 (9).
But his victory was overshadowed by Kyrgios after the volatile Australian was defaulted for throwing a chair during his second-round match against Norway’s Casper Ruud.
He slammed his racket down, kicked a water bottle and then hurled a chair onto the court.
It is far from the first controversy Kyrgios has been involved in and the 24-year-old will automatically forfeit his prize money and faces a hefty fine.
Writing on Instagram, Kyrgios said on Thursday: “Very eventful day to say to the least. Emotions got the better of me and I just wanted to say that the atmosphere was crazy out there today, just super unfortunate that it had to end in a default Sorry Roma, see you again, maybe.”
His antics came only 24 hours after he laid into the sport’s biggest stars in an interview on the No Challenges Remaining podcast, saying he “could not stand” Djokovic and calling Nadal “super salty”.
Nadal was clearly in a hurry, dropping just one game in each match as he swept aside Frenchman Jeremy Chardy and Georgia’s Nikoloz Basilashvili.
World number one Djokovic brushed off Canadian Denis Shapovalov 6-1 6-3 and then beat Philipp Kohlschreiber of Geremany 6-3 6-0.
