Nick Kyrgios has denied tanking after his tumultuous Wimbledon campaign ended in more controversy and drama on Monday.

Admitting to feeling the strain of “external” pressures, Kyrgios clearly made no effort to return serve in the third game of the second set in his rollercoaster 7-5, 6-1 6-7, (7-9), 7-6 (8-6) fourth-round loss to classy Frenchman Richard Gasquet.

After being broken to go down 0-2 in the second set, the tennis enigma let serves pass and nonchalantly dumped others in the net, prompting jeers and boos from disgruntled spectators at the All England Club’s Show Court Two.

Following that, his frustration took a different form as he appeared to try to hit winners with every groundstroke, allowing Gasquet to jump out to a 5-0 lead.
Kyrgios could be fined up to $US20,000 under the “best effort” rules at majors, but fended off accusations he stopped trying during an intense post-match media conference.

“Of course I tried,” he said.

“There was a lot of ups and downs. It was a tough, tough time, especially when he’s not missing any balls.

“I’m getting frustrated myself. I feel as if I’m playing not how I should be playing. I’m angry at myself.”

Kyrgios also claimed Gasquet “was serving too good”, an explanation not accepted by British journalists who grilled the Australian so relentlessly an official mediator had to intervene.

Meanwhile, Thanasi Kokkinakis, who won the Wimbledon junior doubles crown with Kyrgios in 2013, admitted his friend’s apparent one-game tank “wasn’t too surprising because I know what he’s like”.

“Tennis can be a very frustrating sport sometimes and obviously he lost it a little bit there,” the 19-year-old said.

“I mean, I haven’t done it to that level, just leaving balls, but if you’re down 4-0, 40-love, you probably don’t hustle so hard for the next ball.

“I’ve seen it done before where players, when they win like a tight third set and they go down a break in the fourth set, they can conserve energy for the fifth.

“It happens pretty often, but it’s just how you go about it, I guess.”

Despite dropping the second set in 24 minutes, Kyrgios showed grit to take the third and hold two set points in the fourth-set tiebreaker.

But lightning did not strike twice on the same court where Kyrgios saved a majors-record nine match points and recovered from two sets down last year to conquer Gasquet en route to the quarter-finals.

Kyrgios coughed up his 10th double-fault on set point, then netted a backhand, before Gasquet prevailed after two hours and 54 minutes, ending Australia’s singles participation for another year.

“It hurts,” he said.

“You never want to go out of a grand slam. I feel like I definitely could have done better.”

The 20-year-old entered Monday’s encounter with hopes of even winning the title after taking out world number eight Milos Raonic with a scintillating third-round display.

His march to the last 16, following last year’s heroics and another quarter-final charge at the Australian Open, had tennis greats Mats Wilander, John McEnroe and John Newcombe agreeing it would be unwise to write the young sensation off.

But in a largely forgettable performance, Kyrgios fought with his players’ box, received another code violation for swearing and cursed himself as “so dumb, so dumb” before finally crashing out.

Despite playing some sublime tennis to reach the last 16, Kyrgios’s tournament has been laced with controversy, with much of the focus centred on his on-court conduct after a series of clashes with umpires and officials.

The boom youngster said he felt misunderstood and was also dealing with personal issues.

“There’s a lot of things going on at the moment that aren’t focusing on actual tennis. There’s just a lot of stuff going on,” he said.

He chided himself throughout Monday’s encounter, but also vented on his courtside box. “Thanks, you guys, thanks. I asked for one thing. One thing,” he said, pointing to his support staff.

Kyrgios then received a code violation and could be heard telling someone in the crowd to “just leave”.

His manager John Morris, now also coaching the firebrand after he split with Todd Larkham on the eve of the championships, did just that midway through the second set.

At one point, Kyrgios sought a hug from a ball boy and it seemed to help as he rallied to take the third set, staving off two match points in the process.
He let out a mighty roar in celebration as Gasquet obliterated his racquet to earn his own code violation.

But it was the Frenchman who held his nerve best.

Source: AAP