Known for his outbursts during tennis matches, Nick Kyrgios had another run-in with a fan in the stadium during his recent Indian Wells Masters quarter-final defeat to Rafael Nadal. Playing against the 21-time Grand Slam winner, Kyrgios was getting some stick from a fan in the crowd. Not one to shy away, Kyrgios brutally shut down the heckler by asking if he was good at tennis. As the fan replied with a "no", Kyrgios exclaimed, "Exactly, so why are you speaking?"
The 26-year-old then proceeded to point at Hollywood star Ben Stiller, who was also seated in the crowd, and asked, "Do I tell him how to act? No!"
As Kyrgios got back to the game, the camera focussed on Stiller, who seemed amused by what the tennis star had said.
Here is the full video of Kyrgios' brutal response to the heckler:
Reacting to the video, one fan commented, "Love how he doesn't fit the old, traditional mould of a tennis player."
Nadal ended up winning the match 7-6(0), 5-7, 6-4 against Kyrgios to reach the semifinals. The win also helped the Spaniard get his record to 19-0 this year, the third-best start to a season since 1990.
After the post-match handshake, Kyrgios walked to his seat and smashed his racket on the court. It bounced up and almost hit a ballboy, who was standing at the back of the court. Kyrgios had to walk off the court to a mix of boos and cheers.
On Sunday night, Nadal's unbeaten run in 2022 came to an end after he lost to American Taylor Fritz in the final of the Indian Wells Masters.