Kyrgios through after umpire intervention at US Open

Nick Kyrgios recovered to beat Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert at the US Open, after umpire Mohamed Lahyani intervened to urge greater effort from the Australian.

Kyrgios won the second-round contest 4-6 7-5 6-3 6-0 after two hours and 47 minutes, but it was Lahyani’s influence which caught the attention on Court 17.

Herbert was leading 6-4 3-0 when the umpire came down from his chair at the changeover and urged Kyrgios to try harder.

“I want to help you. I want to help you,” Lahyani said.

“I’ve seen your matches: you’re great for tennis. Nick, I know this is not you.”

Roger Federer says it was not the umpire's role to come down from the chair to speak to Kyrgios.

— Simon Cambers (@scambers73) August 30, 2018

Seeking some sort of physical treatment, Kyrgios said: “OK, just call the trainer to the court and I’ll try.”

But when the trainer arrived and asked what Kyrgios needed treatment for, the 30^thseed said: “I don’t know, check my wrist or something. Can you just stay out here for like two minutes?”

Kyrgios went on to win the match, dropping just three games in the final two sets as he swept through to a third-round meeting with Roger Federer.

The Australian later insisted Lahyani’s talking to was not the spark for his fightback and said he would be upset if the respected official was sanctioned in any way.

“It’s happened in Shanghai before when we all know I had that moment in Shanghai where the referee said the same thing: ‘It’s not good for the integrity of the sport, doesn’t have a good look’,” Kyrgios said.

“It happens in other sports, too. In soccer, if someone is being roughed, they get warned: ‘If you keep doing this, you get penalised’. Same sort of thing.

“It had no effect at all. I was 3-love down, (then) 5-2 down. Obviously, didn’t help at all.”

US Open Statement from US Open Tournament Referee on the Nick Kyrgios vs. Pierre-Hugues Herbert Match pic.twitter.com/UHKPhVeYIb

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 30, 2018

A statement from the tournament said Lahyani had come down from his chair “because of the noise level in the stadium”, and he had been concerned about Kyrgios’s physical well being.

The statement added: “He also informed Kyrgios that if his seeming lack of interest in the match continued, that as the chair umpire, he would need to take action.”

Herbert himself was perplexed when later informed of exactly what Lahyani had said to Kyrgios.

“Actually, the umpire doesn’t have to talk to him at all,” said the Frenchman.

“The only thing he can tell him is, yeah, ‘Pay attention, because if you continue like this, I’m going to give you a warning’, something like this.

“They can tell him from the chair. He doesn’t need to go down. He doesn’t need to say the words he said on the video.

“I think this was not his job. I don’t think he’s a coach, he’s an umpire, and he should stay on his chair for that.”