Nick Kyrgios smashes his racket and hits out at rowdy fans as chair umpire fights to control wild Australian Open crowd

Nick Kyrgios broke his racket and became enraged with the crowd as Thanasi Kokkinakis lost 4-6, 6-4, 6-6(10-4) to Australian duo Marc Polmans and Jason Kubler on Thursday.

Despite fears over Kokkinakis’ right shoulder injury, this match was a fun fest from start to finish and literally had it all.

While fans waited in line for hours in front of the KIA Arena to see Special K’s, long queues formed around the 5,000-seat stadium.

Having lost the first set 4-6, 2022 Australian Open doubles champions Kokkinakis and Kyrgios fought back bravely to send the match to a tiebreak in the final set, but fatigue and injuries began to take their toll; Kubler and Polmans made their doubles debut together, outshining their compatriots.

The match, which ended just before midnight, was without drama; Kyrgios was penalized for a rules violation for using profanity in the first set. The former Wimbledon singles finalist also appeared to have exchanged a few words with some enthusiastic fans.

He then exploded in the second set, with the 30-year-old slamming his racket to the ground with some poison after hitting a shot beyond the baseline after he and Kokkinakis took a 2-1 lead in the set.

Fans standing on the sidelines joked with the Australian star and held signs that read: ‘Nick, can I have a broken racquet please? ‘You are my idol.’

Kubler and Polmans fought their way back into the set and forced Kyrgios and Kokkinakis to save the break point at 4-3. The noisy crowd began to become even more invested in the match, with some unruly fans shouting during breaks.

An awkward moment occurred when the fans were joking with the head referee, Marijana Veljovic. The referee became increasingly exasperated by the constant disruptions and paused the match to remind the fans of the expected etiquette.

‘Friends, our support is very good. The chants are great, but this is very disturbing for all of them,’ said the veteran official.

‘Please try to remain silent between services.’

Fans at the KIA Arena then joked with the referee and shouts of ‘Shhh’ echoed throughout the stadium.

Kyrgios prepared to serve but the ‘silence’ continued and Veljovic couldn’t help but smile slightly at the fans’ antics.

“This is a very loud court,” TNT Sports commentators said. ‘There’s definitely a lot of noise. ‘We had a match yesterday where the chair umpire kept telling people to calm down.’

On Wednesday, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina got into a heated argument with some fans who taunted him during his victory over Reilly Opelka. The Spaniard even forced the chair umpire to leave his seat after the 14th seed charged to confront the spectators at the back of the court.

“This caused some resentment,” commentators added. ‘At 10 o’clock you get the feeling that the crowd has had to wait a long time, that they want to be involved in a way.’

They did this. The crowd was on the edge of their seats from start to finish as performers Kyrgios, Kokkinakis, Polmans and Kubler battled it out.

At 5-4 in the second set, Kubler had to serve out after another fan interrupted him by shouting.

The referee later commented: ‘Thanks, that’s not funny. Thank you. ‘I’m ready to play.’

Kubler prepared to serve again but pointed at Kyrgios and said: ‘He started it.’ Kyrgios replied: ‘I didn’t start anything.’

The crowd then started laughing and cheering again, forcing the chair umpire to step in. He later became the most popular person on the field.

The referee said, ‘Okay guys, you’re great’ but had to stop as the unruly crowd cheered wildly and showered him with praise.

‘We’re ready to play now, okay, thanks.’

Kokkinakis and Kyrgios had to withdraw from the first round of the men’s doubles at the 2025 Australian Open due to a shoulder injury.

He would spend the next year on the sidelines as Kokkinakis underwent surgery to connect a dead man’s Achilles tendon to his right pectoral muscle and shoulder.

The Australian star has been battling injury since his return to the ATP Tour at the Adelaide Invitational, where he was forced to withdraw from his third-round match against Sebastian Korda due to the injury.

Painfully, just as the duo had found their rhythm, fears began to mount that Special K’s would be forced to retreat once again after Kokkinakis stood up in pain.

He had served fast serves of over 120 mph during the match, but the power began to show when the Australian served to give himself and Kyrgios a 4-1 lead in the third set before immediately returning to the bench and requesting a medical timeout.

He apologized to his teammate, but Kyrgios reassured his rival: ‘Don’t be stupid! I really don’t care.”

After a physical examination, Kokkinakis was allowed to return to the field but would continue treatment between game breaks.

He continued to play bravely and the game went to a tiebreak, which was nothing short of dramatic.

At 1-2, Kokkinakis approached the net and dunked the ball over the net. However, this point was ignored by the chair umpire, who saw on video review that Kokkinakis had hit the ball before it crossed the goal.

Polmans and Kubler then put their foot on the gas pedal to put their opponents 3-1 ahead, effectively closing out the tiebreaker.

After a fascinating match, Kubler praised the energy of the fans, Kokkinakis and Kyrgios in his post-match interview.

‘When you play with these two, you have an experience. The energy everyone brought out tonight was crazy,” Kubler said.

‘I don’t know if we’ll feel like this for the rest of the tournament.’

Polmans added: ‘It was great sharing the field with Thanasi and Nick. It’s good to see them on the field again. ‘It was great to share the field there tonight.’

Kubler and Polmans will face Jakub Paul and Marcus Willis in the second round of men’s doubles.