Nick Kyrgios battled his way into fourth round of the Australia Open today, but it wasn't without serving up his usual concoction of trick shots and tantrums.
Despite winning the first two sets against Karen Khanchanov, the Australian failed to capitalise on a match point in the third and the Russian brought the match to a fifth set, the 24-year-old battling his usual demons along the way.
Tension reached boiling point in the fourth set when Kyrgios' hand began to bleed after he had failed to execute a tweener, his trademark between-the-legs shot.
There's never a dull moment with @NickKyrgios on court 😮
First he plays an unnecessary failed tweener, then drama follows as he argues with the umpire over his bleeding hand
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As the player sought a towel to wipe the blood off his injured hand, the umpire handed him a time violation. Kyrgios, as his is wont, met the decision with ire, throwing his racket against the court and beginning an tantrum with the umpire.
In a tense exchange with the man in the chair who had seemingly had not seen the blood, the Aussie said: "Are you stupid? Can you not see?"
The impetuous star finally surged his way into the next round, however, after a game which stretched to a marathon four-and-a-half hours. He'll now face Rafael Nadal in a hotly-anticipated clash on Monday.
