It was inevitable Australia’s most combustible sportsman, Nick Kyrgios, would be closely watched when Mohamed Lahyani was appointed central umpire to the first round Wimbledon clash with Radek Stepanek.
Kyrgios won 6-4 6-3 6-7 (9-11) 6-1 in 225 minutes, but there’s form with the Swedish ump, so it came as no surprise when Kyrgios was hit with a code violation for unsportsmanlike conduct after losing that tense third set tie-breaker.
Kyrgios deserved it, but Lahyani has his cross-hairs on the Australian, while he constantly lets the greatest abuser of time wasting, Rafael Nadal, off scot free.
Lahyani is guilty of double standards.
The rules are simple – play must resume 25 seconds after the completion of the last point, there’s 90 seconds at changeovers, and 120 seconds between sets.
Nadal abuses all three time after time after time, and Lahyani, one of the most experienced central umpires, allows Nadal 30-35 seconds, well over two minutes, and close to three minutes.
How many times have you seen Nadal leap off his chair and start sprinting into position overtime?
Countless.
I have no time for Kyrgios’ usual crap behaviour, but last night he was in control except for the minor violation.
He is a phenomenal player capable of playing incredible shots off either wing in support of an explosive serve that produced 25 aces to 11 last night.
And he’s not afraid to pull off the unpredictable – a between-the-legs lob to perfection, and racing in to pick up a Stepanek drop shot to flick it one-handed backhand across the Czech’s advance.
Both difficult, but both brilliant in execution.
If a future danger surfaced last night for Kyrgios, it was his break-point conversion rate – just six from 16.
He will be playing far better opposition as he advances, so he must be more successful in that vital area.
It’s hard enough to earn a break point without converting them.
But all up it was a solid and productive start for the 21-year-old ranked 15, who has the genuine ammunition to fire at the home of tennis.
Bernard Tomic, ranked 19, the other Australian with a history of being a brat, was locked at two sets apiece with the always dangerous Spaniard Fernando Verdasco when the heavens opened with torrential rain.
They are on Court 2, with no roof. Only Centre Court has a roof, although Court 1 will be covered by 2019 at a cost of 70 million British pounds.
So far Kyrios, John Millman, Sam Stosur, and Daria Gavrilova are the Australians safely through to the second round, while Luke Saville and Jordan Thompson were first-round casualties.
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