John McEnroe says Nick Kyrgios went 'too far' by smashing racquets after US Open defeat

John McEnroe says Nick Kyrgios went “too far” by smashing his racquets on court while Karen Khachanov celebrated his US Open quarter-final win against the Australian.

An epic encounter saw the Russian progress to the last-four in five sets at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

After shaking hands with the umpire, Kyrgios proceeded to hammer his racquet against the playing surface, before grabbing a spare and destroying that one too.

McEnroe was also known for his fiery temperament, and speaking on the Eurosport pre-show ahead of Wednesday’s action, he said, “That was after the match so it was a little unbecoming because - I get he’s frustrated - but this is when [Karen] Khachanov is walking in the centre of the court [saying], ‘Thank you very much the eight people that were on my side’. So that was going too far - I know something about that.”

“Nick obviously does that almost every match. We saw the full Nick there. To me, I’ve always said it’s better to go out and try and fail than to not try at all. So he’s finally gotten there. We need to encourage him to keep going and battling”, he said.

Kyrgios has often been criticised for giving up when the going gets tough in matches, but former world number one Mats Wilander thinks the match with Khachanov showed a new side to him.

“He’s got to build up some respect in the locker room for being a competitor, a fighter, and that’s what he did last night. I mean, he fought to the very last point and to show that he’s frustrated - yes, I don’t like when you break the racquets, you know that - but he showed he cares now”, he said.

McEnroe thinks Kyrgios has built a better standing for himself within the sport, saying, “He’s paid his dues the last three to six months - he’s played a lot more tournaments. I wouldn’t poo poo the other tournaments completely, because that sets you up ranking wise so he would get easier draws potentially - that’s important. But obviously he’s right that people are going to remember how you do in the Slams.”

Following his loss in New York, Wilander says Kyrgios needs to focus on developing his game on the practice courts.

“What I want to know is, is he going to be able to get up and practice, because I do think in the last three months he’s played so many matches that he hasn’t really had to practice. And [McEnroe] would know about it because he played doubles as well. [Kyrgios] has played a lot of doubles which is great practice for him. Now can he go home and put in two hours pretty much every day until the Australian Open starts and maybe go to the gym and keep this fitness because he’s fit as hell I would say and he fought hard. We are now putting pressure on him to go home and do that in a way”, he said.

Kyrgios has pulled out of September’s Laver Cup, leaving McEnroe - who is captain of Team World - without the aggressive player he was hoping to have at his disposal.

However, the American understands his reasoning, saying, “He says he wants to go home and see his family - his mum, he’s been talking about has been ill - we obviously totally get it.”

“I hope he does play some more matches because [he can] set himself up for Australia where he could be a top ten, top eight seed potentially if he actually did something. You can see when he’s on his game he can beat anybody. He’s got to ride this wave because to me, if he lets it go it’s going to be even harder to get it back”, he said.

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