Nick Kyrgios was once again the protagonist of a new controversy in the middle of the match: discussion with the judge and the murmurs of the public

Every time Nick Kyrgios comes out on the pitch, his eyes fall on him, unfortunately not because of his great style of play, but because he is one of the most controversial and outgoing players on the circuit.

On this occasion, the Australian tennis player was the protagonist of a tense discussion with the chair judge during the semifinal match of the ATP 250 tournament in Houston (United States) against Reilly Opelka, who finally won the final after beating him 6-3 and 7-5.

The exchange of comments came after a play corresponding to the second set, when the score was 5-5. It was there that the current number 94 in the ranking got angry after a play in which he had considered it bad but that the umpire ended up giving it as good.

The action began with the Australian's serve and it was in the return of the American that he considered that the ball had been bad, however he continued to play until the point ended. From there he went to the chair judge to show him where he had hit the ball, according to him.

“Tell me, there are three clay court referees and he gets that point when the ball is out? So what are they doing here?” , asked Kyrgios ironically before the watchful eye of the spectators, who soon began to booo and mumble from the stands.

The play continued and finally Opelka managed to turn the point around and then beat it in the next game. It is worth mentioning that on this clay court surface there is no hawk's eye. This is the third consecutive performance in which the Australian became the center of attention for starring in a controversy since previously he had also done so at Indian Wells and the Miami Masters.

With the result in his favor, Reilly Opelka, third favorite of the competition, will face John Isner, winner of the other key by beating Chilean Christian Garin 4-6, 6-3 and 6-4 in the final. The American, a former number one from his country, now has an even record in semi-final matches with 6-6, but improves with 5-2 in clay events.

For his part, the explosive Australian, who prefers to play on hard court, has won only 39 clay games so far in his career and had not played a match on that surface since 2019. The quarter-finalist of Indian Wells 2022, who has been reluctant to travel and has seen very limited action since the covid pandemic, was one victory away from playing his first final on the ATP circuit since 2019.

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