Opinion: Nick Kyrgios and Alexander Zverev are the latest examples of men's tennis snowballing anger crisis

In 2018, an article appeared in the New York Times revealing the number of fines that had been distributed to male and female players in Grand Slam tournaments. The naughty list was split by gender and by type of fine, and there were some remarkable conclusions. Ad/> Let's take this one for starters.

Between 1998 and 2018, 646 fines were dished out to male players for racket abuse at Grand Slams. That corresponding number for women? 99. ATP Miami'Absolute clown' — Kyrgios doubles down on umpire criticism as Roddick cites 'ego'7 HOURS AGO You might have thought those stark numbers of the men's side would perhaps encourage some introspection, either on the part of the players themselves or the authorities that try and police the game, particularly as the other categories were just as damning.

Audible obscenity? 344-140 to the men. Unsportsmanlike conduct? 287-67. Verbal abuse? 62-16.

But in the last month, it would seem the men's game is further away than ever from addressing its anger issue. First there was Alexander Zverev's meltdown in Acapulco, where he smashed his racket against the umpire's chair three times, almost hitting Italian official Alessandro Germani on the leg with one of his swings. 'Absolute clown' — Kyrgios doubles down on umpire criticism as Roddick cites 'ego' Kyrgios defends Raducanu: 'What’s with old retired players giving their opinion?' Next it was Nick Kyrgios, who — not content with breaking his racket early in the match — launched his racket into the ground after losing to Rafael Nadal at Indian Wells, coming extremely close to hitting a ball boy on the head.