As Nick Kyrgios toiled his way through a disruptive match at the Australian Open, some fans took displeasure to his brother, Christos, and his choice of attire in the crowd.
The older sibling of the 22-year-old Aussie turned up to his seat in a Sportsbet T-shirt and was scolded forbeing a "human billboard" after standing to applaud his brother, news.com.au reports.
Unbelievable things about tonight’s Kyrgios v Troicki match: 1. Attention seeker @JamieZhuTV disturbing play with “sex noises” 🙄 2. Christos Kyrgios acting as a walking, talking ad for @sportsbetcomau 😳 3. Kyrgios’s round-the-post backhand early in the third set 👏🏻 pic.twitter.com/wbO5pBtNnR
As if we don’t see enough gambling advertisements, we now have Nick Kyrgios’s brother acting as a human billboard in the player’s box. Standing up for the cameras. Are you serious, @AustralianOpen? 🤦🏽♂️
Interesting that Kyrgios’s brother can sit court side with a Sportsbet shirt so visible. Not much protection for #AusOpen offical sponsor William Hill.
Kyrgios has set up a tantalising third-round Australian Open showdown with former finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga after rolling Serbian Viktor Troicki.
There were shades of a 2017 Andrea Seppi second-round stumble when Kyrgios surrendered a two-sets-to-love lead when the top-ranked Australian failed to deliver on a match point and then handed a break to Troicki.
Family and friends of Nick Kyrgios. Photo / AAP
But the Australian showed his growing maturity to level at 6-6 before dominating the tiebreak in a 7-5 6-4 7-6 (7-2) victory on Wednesday night.
Before that late hiccup, the world No.17 was seemingly more troubled by a series of bizarre interruptions at Hisense Arena than by veteran Troicki.
A heckler was escorted out by security early in the second set after yelling near the Kyrgios box while filming himself, and then a helicopter hovered overhead for two games to the annoyance of the Australian.
Kyrgios then complained about feedback from the umpire's microphone, with Brit James Keothavong resorting to turning it off and shouting the score.
A spectator is seen to heckle players Nick Kyrgios of Australia and Viktor Troicki of Serbia. Photo / AAP
"It was a strange one; it was tough with a lot of things going on," Kyrgios said.
"I know that Vik is a fighter and I knew I had to stick to my guns.
"He broke me back when I was serving for the match and I started freaking out and I just kind of tried to hold serve and tried to work it out in the breaker.
"I got lucky but it was tough match and I am happy to get through."
Kyrgios set up the win on the back of some booming forehands and another superb serving display, barrelling down 17 aces and only dropping only 11 points on his first serves landed.
Troicki's first break point didn't come until the second game of the third set, but the 31-year-old - who eliminated Aussie wildcard Alex Bolt in five sets in round one - was unable to convert.
Kyrgios nailed the first set with an ace and then backed it up to break Troicki in the first game of the second.
The dogged Troicki however refused to lay down, setting up the intriguing finale to the match.Kyrgios has only face world No.15 Tsonga once previously, with the Frenchman securing the win last year in Marseille in three sets.
Tsonga, 32, made the Open final back in 2008, which he lost to Novak Djokovic.
Kyrgios said Tsonga was one of his "idols" and he would be up for the challenge.
