Nick Kyrgios blames 'really hot chick in the crowd' for his defeat in match against Roger Federer
Nick Kyrgios has earned himself a reputation for being an incredibly talented but hot-tempered player whose flashes of brilliance are often tempered by moments so bizarre he would leave us wondering if he was really a professional tennis player, and this past week was no different.
Kyrgios was involved in a titanic tussle with Roger Federer at the Laver Cup on Saturday, September 21, in a match that eventually saw him lose with a well-fought and respectable 6-7(5), 7-5, 10-7 scoreline.
While there was nothing controversial during the match in itself, what happened after will undoubtedly lead many to question the 24-year-old's commitment to the sport.
TV cameras around the court caught him exclaiming to his teammate that he had lost the match because he was distracted by a "hot chick" in the crowd.
"I lost concentration, I saw a really hot chick in the crowd," he said. "Like, I'm being jarringly honest — I'd marry her right now. Right now!"
However, when asked about the loss, Kyrgios said it had nothing do with a lack of discipline on his part, but more to do with the fact that Federer was an exceptional player.
"I just had to do with something that I was playing someone that's probably the best to ever play the sport," the sportsman reportedly said.
"I don't think it was a lack of shot selection or lack of discipline or lack of power or lack of anything. I think the guy I was playing was just pretty good. Don't you think so? Yeah. It's a pretty bad question, to be honest," Krygios said.
The 24-year-old later announced that he was withdrawing from the tournament owing to injury, but even that announcement was not without controversy.
When a reporter asked him what prompted him to pull out of the tournament, Kyrgios picked up a beer, took a few sips, and only then answered, "I felt my collar bone. I think just the amount I played yesterday, the occasion, the pressure, it was just too much for my body but hindsight was probably a good thing."