Nick Kyrgios has been defaulted from the Italian Open after a furious outburst before walking off court.
The volatile Australian was playing his second-round match against Norway's Casper Ruud at the Foro Italico and had levelled the clash at one set all after losing the opener.
But, after being given a game penalty to trail 2-1, reportedly for swearing, Kyrgios hurled a chair onto the court, packed up his bag and walked off the court, with the umpire awarding the match to Ruud.
Well...
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) May 16, 2019
Kyrgios gets a game penalty and then walks off court, handing Casper Ruud a place in the last 16#ibi19 pic.twitter.com/T4jhvbV1RN
It is far from the first controversy Kyrgios has been involved in and the Australian, who will automatically forfeit his prize money, is sure to face a heavy fine at the very least.
The 24-year-old was given a ban by the ATP in 2016 after walking off court midway through a match against Mischa Zverev at the Shanghai Masters and may well find himself suspended again.
Kyrgios' 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" Novak Djokovic and calling Rafael Nadal "super salty".
