Jannik Sinner retires Miami Open match a day after overcoming Nick Kyrgios outburst

Jannik Sinner has been forced to retire from the Miami Open just one day after dispatching Nick Kyrgios in a fiery match that saw the Aussie receive two code violations as he took issue with both the court and the chair umpire. The ninth seed was trailing Francisco Cerundolo 1-4 in their quarter-final on Wednesday when he forfeited the match, allowing the world No 103 to progress to his maiden Masters semi-final.

Sinner earned credit for an impressive display against Kyrgios in their last-16 match on Tuesday, as he stayed calm and collected while his opponent was imploding on the other side of the net. It was their first meeting, with the Italian winning through 7-6(3) 6-3 while the world No 102 fumed at chair umpire Carlos Bernardes.

Despite his frustrations during the match, Kyrgios was quick to pile praise on the 20-year-old after losing to him, and Sinner advanced to the quarter-finals to face Cerundolo, who had never won an ATP main-draw match on a hard court before this week. The world No 11 was the clear favourite to win the match but surprised the Stadium court crowd when he took off his sweatbands and shook hands with his opponent at 1-4 down in the first set, retiring the match.

It was the second back-to-back retirement of the day on the main Hard Rock Stadium court, after WTA world No 6 Paula Badosa also ended her match at 1-4 down to Jessica Pegula in the women's quarter-final. It was later revealed that Sinner's official reason for withdrawal was "foot blisters".

JUST IN: Djokovic's brother thanks Kyrgios with 'personal invitation' to Serbia

Last year's runner-up had impressed against Kyrgios while the former world No 13 fumed at the umpire when his walky-talkie accidentally went off mid-rally. "Get a new