Jannik Sinner admits he 'didn't understand' Nick Kyrgios fury in Miami Open clash

Jannik Sinner has admitted he didn't understand why Nick Kyrgios launched a tirade at the umpire during their round-of-16 match at the Miami Open. The ninth seed defeated the Aussie 7-6(3) 6-3 in their first meeting, benefitting from a point penalty and game penalty after Kyrgios received two code violations for his on-court behaviour.

Kyrgios had put on clinical performances to make it to the last-16 in Miami, failing to drop a set as he said he was "keeping [his] head down", with his scalps including a 51-minute victory over world No 7 Andrey Rublev. He then faced Sinner after the pair were due to meet in the Indian Wells round-of-16 recently before the 20-year-old withdrew with illness.

They were able to make up for it in the very next tournament, meeting at the same stage in Miami on Tuesday, but it was a different story for the world No 102 compared to his earlier rounds. Early in the match, the 26-year-old who was the oldest player left in the men's draw aired his grievances with the Grandstand court conditions, having played his three other matches on Stadium.

He then became more agitated after the chair umpire's walky-talky accidentally went off mid-rally when Sinner was serving late in the first set. After the Italian held, the former world No 13 launched a tirade at umpire Carlos Bernardes at the changeover as he claimed the offocial should be "fired on the spot".

"Get a new set of referees, these guys don't know how to do s***," he blasted. "Walky-talkies going off. It's a joke. He is a joke. Get rid of every single staff and start over. Everything. I will run the sport. I could do 100x a better job. Marketing. Everything. You guys have no idea. None. You guys can't even ref right."

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