Nick Kyrgios took to Twitter to clarify his comment about the ATP.GETTY IMAGES
The ATP is considering whether to punish Nick Kyrgios for a "major offense" after he called the men’s tennis tour "corrupt" because it fined him more than $100,000 for his behavior during a match last month. About a half-hour after the tour’s statement, Kyrgios sent out a Tweet in an effort "to clarify my comment around the ATP being corrupt," saying that "it was not the correct choice of words" and explaining the "intention was to address what I see as double standards rather than corruption." Kyrgios was asked about whether the recent fine affected him mentally as the year’s last Grand Slam tournament began. He said, "Not at all. ATP’s pretty corrupt, anyway, so I’m not fussed about it at all" (AP, 8/28).
The 24-year-old had moments where his "temper simmered" during the victory over Steve Johnson, but was "relatively calm by his volcanic standards." Kyrgios became angry midway through the second set at fans making their way to their seats as he was trying to serve. After berating them he turned his focus on umpire James Keothavong, aggressively asking him: "What the f … are you doing?" This gave Keothavong no choice but to "issue a code violation for an audible obscenity" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 8/29).
