Nick Kyrgios Fined $16,500 For ‘Lack Of Best Efforts’ And Conduct At Shanghai Masters

Nick Kyrgios has been dealt a major blow by the Association of Tennis Professionals.

Nick Kyrgios Fined $16,500 For ‘Lack Of Best Efforts’ And Conduct At Shanghai Masters

The ATP fined the 21-year-old Australian $16,500 for his strange behavior during his second-round match defeat by Mischa Zverev at the Shanghai Masters on Wednesday.

Kyrgios was fined the maximum $10,000 for displaying a “lack of best efforts” during a match, $5,000 for verbal abuse of a spectator and $1,500 for unsportsmanlike conduct.

The 12th-seeded youngster rushed through his 6-3, 6-1 loss to German qualifier Zverev, failing to put speed on his serves and hitting erratically on his groundstrokes. At one point, Kyrgios walked toward his chair after floating a serve across the net without even waiting for Zverev’s return– a bizarre move that seems like the epitome of lack of trying.

Late in the match, Kyrgios also angrily responded to a fan who criticized him by yelling back, “You want to come here and play?”

He was booed and jeered multiple times.

Afterwards, Krygios claimed he was tired. “It was just tough. Obviously I played a lot of matches in a row. Physically tired, mentally tired,” he said

“That’s why I’m trying to work on being able to be consistent every week. Just took the easy way out tonight and obviously didn’t show up at all. I wasn’t so much frustrated. I just tapped out a little bit, I guess.”

The feisty Australian is known for his on-court antics and frequent arguments with umpires and fans. Last year, he even insulted the 2016 US Open champion, Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka, during a match in Montreal.

Kyrgios received $12,500 in fines for his behavior in that match, as well as a possible 28-day suspension and a further $25,000 fine if he picked up any other major offenses over the following six months. That probation period ended in February.

On Friday, top-ranked Serb Novak Djokovic said he believes the youngster has some “life lessons to learn.”

“Not many great things are spoken about him lately,” Djokovic said. “I’m sorry to hear that, because I share the opinion of many players and many people in the tennis world that he’s one of the greatest talents the game has seen lately.”

When asked about the confrontation with the spectator, Kyrgios stated: “I feel like if they knew what they were talking about they’d be on the tennis court and being successful as well. I can’t really understand it at all. They don’t know what I’m going through, so no, I don’t understand it.”

SHANGHAI, CHINA – OCTOBER 12: Nick Kyrgios of Australia returns a shot against Mischa Zverev of Germany during the Men’s singles second round match on day four of Shanghai Rolex Masters at Qi Zhong Tennis Centre on October 12, 2016 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)