Australian tennis player Nick Kyrgios has been fined $10,000 after on-court microphones caught him making a lewd comment about his opponent's girlfriend during a match in Canada.
The 20-year-old was fined an additional $2,500 for "unsportsmanlike conduct" relating to a comment made to a ball-person during the match, the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) said in a statement Thursday. The ATP added it was investigating whether Kyrgios' actions demanded a more severe penalty.
Kyrgios, currently ranked 41st in the world, was playing No. 5-ranked Stanislaws Wawrinka in second-round match of the Rogers Cup in Montreal on Thursday when on-court microphones picked up his crude remark about another player sleeping with Wawrinka's girlfriend.
Kyrgios has since apologized on Facebook, saying his remarks toward double grand-slam winner Wawrinka were made "in the heat of the moment and were unacceptable on many levels."
He said he also made a private apology to his opponent and would "take full responsibility" for his actions.
Wawrinka, 30, said on Twitter that Kyrgios 's on-court remarks were "so low" and "beyond belief."
"So disappointing to see a fellow athlete and colleague be so disrespectful in a way I could never even imagine," he added. "What was said I wouldn't say to my worst enemy."
