Fans react to tennis star Nick Kyrgios complaints of ‘marijuana’ smell, spitting during US Open in New York
The tennis star also spat at an opponent and swore at one of his supporters
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Your support makes all the difference.Tennis star Nick Kyrgios served up a list of complaints to the press after smelling marijuana and hearing noises during a recent set at the US Open, sparking a wave of backlash online.
Kyrgios was playing his second round match on Wednesday evening at Louis Armstrong Stadium against Benjamin Bonzi when he complained to the chair umpire that he was smelling marijuana smoke.
According to the New York Post, Mr Kygrios told the umpire he had seen and could smell someone smoking marijuana, and criticised the official for not acting to remind people not to light up during the matches.
"You don't even want to remind anyone not to do it?" he asked the umpire.
Apparently the umpire misheard Kygrios's complaints and thought he was upset over the smell of food wafting onto the court from the audience. This only served to further incense the typically high-strung tennis star.
“It was f****** marijuana,” Kyrgios replied. “Obviously I’m not going to be complaining about food stuff. Obviously not."
He then noted to the umpire that he had asthma.
“Obviously when athletes are running side-to-side and they have asthma already it’s probably not ideal,” the tennis player said.
At that point the umpire agreed to address the audience, reminding them they "cannot smoke on court."
Kyrgios went on to win his second set 6-4, but lost his third set by the same margin. During that set he spit on the court toward his opponent, sulked on the sidelines, and was given a code of conduct violation for his behaviour.
After the match Kyrgios elaborated on his asthma.
“People don’t know. I’m a heavy asthmatic,” he told the press regarding the marijuana incident. “When I’m running side to side, I’m struggling to breathe, probably not something I want to be breathing in in between points."
That wasn't his only complaint. Kyrgios, an Australian, appears to have a disdain for playing in the US in general, complaining of noises that disrupt his focus.
“Yeah, U.S. Open, it’s a very different vibe to everywhere else. I feel like Wimbledon was so proper. Australian Open, you kind of expect it there, being an Aussie. But here, it’s just like noisy. Point in, point out, I can’t barely hear. Half the time I can’t even hear my team because it’s so noisy all the time. … Constant jitter," he said. " Things going off, sirens. … For someone that’s struggled to focus in my career, I’m really trying hard to put my head down and play point by point, try to dig myself out of some certain situations. It’s hard because there’s a lot of distractions. Obviously a lot of heckling going on as well. People are saying things. I got to be very careful with what I say these days.”
Tennis fans took to social media to levy their own complaints against Kyrgios.
“Is there anything he wont complain about? He was complaining about the members In his own box not being loud enough. Then there’s that “drunk blonde” he accused of being too noisy. Name a topic, he will whinge about that next,” one Twitter user wrote.
Musab Abid, an editor and tennis writer at Sportskeeda, expressed a similar disappointment in Kyrgios’ behaviour.
“Is Nick Kyrgios the most consistently embarrassing player of the last 2 decades? I mean sure there are others who have, on occasion, exhibited similarly disgusting behaviour,” he wrote. “But I can’t think of anyone else whose utter lack of class/decency comes to the fore so often.”
Marijuana is legal in New York, so no one violated any state laws for smoking at the match, though they may have violated the US Open's policies.
It is not clear if anyone was removed from the stadium or reprimanded for marijuana usage at the event.
While Kyrgios is playing some of the best tennis of his career this year, he is also facing mounting criticism and controversies. A woman he accused of looking like she had "700 drinks" and of being "drunk out of her mind" during the 2022 Wimbledon final is suing him for defamation. He's also facing assault charges from an ex-girlfriend stemming from December 2021 incident.
When asked about the incident, Kyrgios told reporters that his attorneys had advised him against speaking of the issue. He has not yet entered a plea in the case.
The Independent has reached out to the US Open for comment.
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