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| Nick Kyrgios of Austria returns a shot against Pierre-Hugues Herbert of France in a second round match on day four of the 2018 U.S. Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center (Photo: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports via Reuters) |
Nick Kyrgios appeared to take some advice to try harder from chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani as he rallied to beat Pierre-Hugues Herbert and reach the U.S. Open third round on Thursday.
In a bizarre scene that caused an instant stir on social media, Lahyani got off his chair with Kyrgios down a set and trailing 3-0 in the second to give the Australian a pep talk.
For almost a minute the animated Lahyani gestured and pleaded with the stone-faced Kyrgios and the Swedish umpire could be heard telling him: ‘I’m trying to help you”.
Although Kyrgios dropped the opening set his level of play and interest appeared to rise dramatically after the pep talk and he swept the next three sets for a 4-6 7-6(6) 6-3 6-0 win.
The enigmatic Australian had earlier looked poised to produce another lacklustre effort as he remained cemented to the baseline, barely flinching as Herbert served for a 3-0 lead.
It was at that point that Lahyani came down during the changeover and advised Kyrgios to show more interest.
The incident caught the attention of United States Tennis Association officials who could look into the umpire’s conduct.
Hard-hitting Czech Petra Kvitova advanced to the third round of the U.S. Open on Thursday, defeating China’s Yafan Wang 7-5 6-3 to keep her dream of winning a third Grand Slam title alive.
The fifth seed converted five of seven break points and fired down four aces to send 24-year-old Wang packing in a match that lasted just under two hours on a hot and humid day at Flushing Meadows.
The match looked like it would be a one-sided affair when the twice Wimbledon champion raced to a 4-1 lead in the first set but Wang came roaring back to level the set at 5-5.
Kvitova would not be denied, however, unleashing her powerful forehand and elevating her play to capture the final two games of the set before cruising to victory.
Next up for the Czech is a third-round meeting with 20-year-old number 26 seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus.
Kvitova won their only previous meeting in three sets on the hardcourts at the Miami Open this year.
