Video: Nick Kyrgios shows his sportsmanlike side against Tomas Berdych
When a tennis fan first thinks of Australian Nick Kyrgios, the image that crops up in his/her mind is not an amusing one. For the 20-year-old Melbourne-born player hasn't quite had a pleasant past with some not-so-memorable episodes overshadowing what is still a promising career.
However on Thursday, Kyrgios showed that he had a sporting side to him as well, when in the quarterfinals of the Dubai Duty-free competition, he asked Tomas Berdych to challenge a serve which had been called out by the referee in the opening set with him 2-0 up.
Interestingly, on challenging, Kyrgios was proven right and the point was awarded to the Czech Republican. The Australian eventually went on to win the contest in straight sets 6-4 6-4 to book a spot in the semis.
There have been instances when he has been severely criticised for his antics on the court, but this gesture from him is certainly praise-worthy.
Here’s the video the gesture: