Nick Kyrgios looked to be heating up as he took a second-set tiebreaker and forced Norway’s Casper Ruud into a third set at Rome.
Turns out the controversial Aussie was just overheating.
He went ballistic after surrendering a break in the second game of the third set and was given a well-deserved game penalty (he had already been given two code violations earlier in the match).
Then he pushed it further, chucked a chair onto the court and walked off as the crowd went nuts.
Was he disqualified? The supervisor was called to the court but no official announcement was made. Kyrgios beat everybody to the punch, packed up his bag, shook hands with everybody and headed off.
Ruud is the winner, and Kyrgios is likely to be facing discipline (again) from the ATP.
Here’s another look of the bizarre incident from the spectator’s view:
As a result of the default, Kyrgios will forfeit all prize money and ranking points earned in Rome and will face a fine as well.
Afterward, Kyrgios posted an apology of sorts on Instagram.
"Very eventful day to say to the least," Kyrgios wrote. "Emotions got the better of me and I just wanted to say that the atmosphere was crazy out there today, just super unfortunate that it had to end in a default.
"Sorry Roma, see you again, maybe."