Nick Kyrgios smashes his racquet into the ground before throwing it into the crowd during a warm up match in Melbourne – as the controversial Aussie athlete battles a painful knee injury
- Nick Kyrgios has suffered an injury setback ahead of the Australian Open
- World number 47 moved sluggishly in his defeat against Croatia’s Borna Coric
- He has little time to turn things around, with the grand slam starting on Monday
Nick Kyrgios‘ Australian Open preparation is in disarray after losing in straight sets on Friday in a warm up match in Melbourne.
The world number 47 was sluggish in his 6-3 6-4 defeat against Borna Coric, with the volatile Australian clearly hampered by a knee injury.
His trademark serve kept him in the contest, but in the end his temper was again the talking point.
Nick Kyrgios prepares to throw his racket (pictured above) on Friday in Melbourne
In the second set, Kyrgios received a warning for an expletive-laden tirade, only to then smashing his racquet and throw it into the stands.
Luckily for Kyrgios, no fans were courtside at the Murray River Open.
After Coric claimed the first set, Kyrgios called out the trainer for treatment on his knee.
He was in obvious discomfort, as the trainer went to work.
‘I can’t serve without pain. I’ll probably just play one more game. I’m serving at like 170 (km/h) instead of 220,’ Kyrgios said.