Halle, London: Nick Kyrgios was involved in a heated altercation with the umpire over a time violation before composing himself to down world number six Stefanos Tsitsipas 5-7 6-2 6-4 and advance to the quarter-finals of the ATP 500 Halle Open on Wednesday.
The volatile Australian was given a warning for taking too long to return Tsitsipas’s serve while leading 2-0 in the second set and then proceeded to summon the supervisor to express his displeasure.
“He said I was playing too slow - statistically I’m one of the fastest,” Kyrgios told reporters after reaching his second straight quarter-final following his last-four appearance in Stuttgart last week.
“I had to walk to the sidelines to get my towel, there is this thing called sweat in 30 Celsius heat that runs down onto your hands. I needed to wipe my hands and he gave me a warning.”
The 27-year-old added that the capacity crowd at the OWL Arena helped him his raise his game after losing the opening set to clinch a third career victory over Greek Tsitsipas and continue his impressive run heading into Wimbledon.
“The support I get from crowds around the world is amazing. They want me to go out and put on a show,” he said.
Cilic advances
Marin Cilic, meanwhile, made it into the last eight of the Queen’s grasscourt tournament on Wednesday, with a 7-6 (8/6) 7-5 win over Alexander Bublik.
The 33-year-old Cilic has been in good form of late, advancing to the last four of this season’s French Open before losing to Casper Ruud.
But Denis Shapovalov, a Wimbledon semi-finalist last year, was beaten in the first round at Queen’s on Wednesday, the sixth seed going down in three sets to Tommy Paul of the United States.
Paul took the first set 6-4 only for Shapovalov to draw level by taking the second set 6-2.
But Paul held his nerve to win the decider 6-4.
Finnish qualifier Emil Ruusuvuori beat Britain’s Jack Draper 6-2, 7-6 (7/2) to advance into the quarter-finals.
World number 56 Ruusuvuori was in fine form, hitting 29 winners while forcing nine break points.
With no points on offer at Wimbledon this summer, due to the decision by the All England Club to ban Russian and Belarussian competitors following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Queen’s Club event is one of last opportunities for players to boost their rankings ahead of the hardcourt season.
