The Russian defended his young Australian opponents antics after the 19-year-old was almost disqualified for his on-court behaviour.
Russia’s Mikhael Youzhny has defended opponent Nick Kyrgios’ on-court behaviour after the Australian was almost disqualified from the US Open on Monday.
Kyrgios upset the 21st-seeded Youzhny 7-5 7-6 (7-4) 2-6 7-6 (7-1) in his debut at Flushing Meadows.
However, the 19-year-old stood just a point away from being forfeited after earning three code violations during the three-hour encounter.
Kyrgios whacked a ball out of the stadium during the second set, then dropped an audible F-bomb before being docked a game in the fourth set for a second obscenity.
He was only penalised a game because his third offence came in a game point against him.
Kyrgios then went on to hold his next service game to love, before breaking Youzhny to claim an impressive win.
Youzhny felt his opponents behaviour was more a display of passion rather than petulance.
“He’s young. I mean, it’s normal. It’s emotion, it’s everything,” Youzhny said.
“He looks like he has lots of emotions. Sometimes it helps, sometimes it’s not (helping).”
Kyrgios said he was aiming to eliminate the outbursts from his game.
“It just comes from having high expectations most of the time,” he said.
“I have been an emotional player most of my career. Maybe I will be able to manage it in the future.
“It’s a work in progress. It’s something that’s always been there.”
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