Clicky
Sports

Injury forces Federer out, Kyrgios expelled after misbehavior


Bangladeshpost
Published : 18 May 2019 01:34 PM | Updated : 07 Sep 2020 08:20 AM

Roger Federer has pulled out of his Italian Open quarter-final clash against Stefanos Tsitsipas due to an injury in his right leg, organisers said on Friday. Meanwhile, Kyrgios made an unsavoury exit from the tournament, Reuters explains.

The 37-year-old Swiss was making a return to the European clay court season after two years away.

 “Unfortunately, King Roger had to withdraw from the tournament due to an injury to his right leg,” the tournament organisers wrote on Twitter.

“We wish him a fast recovery. Thank you for the incredible emotions.”

The injury casts doubts over his preparations for this months French Open, with only five matches on clay under his belt heading into the second Grand Slam of the year.

Following his quarter-final exit at the Australian Open, the 20-times Grand Slam champion won his 100th career singles title in Dubai and added another crown in Miami.

Federer, bidding for only the second French Open title of his career, will look to regain fitness ahead of the tournament starting in Paris on May 26.

World number three Federer, a four-time finalist in Rome, was competing at the event for the first time since 2016.

The Swiss saved two match points to defeat Borna Coric 2-6 6-4 7-6 (9-7) on Thursday, having beaten Joao Sousa in straight sets earlier in the day.

Federer, who had been due to face Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarterfinals, came through two matches Thursday at the rain-affected tournament, beating Joao Sousa in straight sets before being forced to a deciding set against Borna Coric later in the day.

The match against Coric is believed to have caused Federer's injury, with him revealing after the 3-hour, 51-minute contest that he tweaked his leg after slipping on the wet baseline.

With nine days to go until the French Open begins at Roland Garros, it remains to be seen whether Federer's injury is serious enough to throw his participation there into doubt.

The 20-time Grand Slam champion has not played at Roland Garros since reaching the quarterfinals in 2015, This would be his return to the clay courts in Paris 10 years after his sole French Open triumph.

On the other hand, an action-packed day at the Italian Open was marred by an astonishing outburst from Australian Nick Kyrgios, who was expelled from the tournament after going wild in the third set of his match against Casper Ruud on Thursday.

The incident overshadowed an outstanding day for Roger Federer, who reached the quarter-finals on his return to the tournament for the first time since 2016 with a 2-6 6-4 7-6(7) win over Borna Coric, having earlier beaten Joao Sousa.

Trailing 2-1 in the third set, the Australian slammed his racket into the ground, kicked a water bottle and tossed a chair towards the centre of the court before he shook hands with the umpire and his Norwegian opponent Ruud and walked out.

The outburst came after Kyrgios got a code violation for unsportsmanlike conduct. Having already been handed a violation earlier, it meant the umpire also handed Kyrgios a game penalty.

All that came after the 24-year-old ripped into Djokovic and Nadal in a podcast, having also misbehaved in his second-round match with Russian Daniil Medvedev on Tuesday.

Several hours after slamming a ball over the Foro Italico’s stands and bending over to turn his backside on Medvedev, Kyrgios branded Nadal a sore loser and the Spaniard’s uncle Toni an “idiot” for saying the Australian lacks education.

Speaking to tennis writer Ben Rothenberg on the ‘No Challenges Remaining’ podcast, Kyrgios also said Djokovic was “an unbelievable player” and “a champion of the sport” but added that the Serb was too desperate to be admired like Federer.