Indian Wells: Kyrgios' tantrums, brush with Ben Stiller headlines loss to Nadal

21-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal might have bagged his 19th win in a row, but it was vintage Australian Nick Kyrgios who swore, abused hecklers, smashed his racket and managed to even pull Hollywood's Ben Stiller into the drama of their thrilling quarter-final at Indian Wells on Friday.

Krygios lost to Australian Open 2022 winner Nadal in a three-set cliffhanger, eventually losing 7-6 (7-0) 5-7 6-4 to end an extraordinary tournament. And fans at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden witnessed a 24-karat Kyrgios drama throughout the rollercoaster clash.

The 26-year-old Aussie defeated the Spaniard in a four-set Wimbledon win in 2014 to reach the quarter-finals on his way and a career-best ATP ranking of 13 in the world. Kyrgios also toppled Nadal at the 2017 ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati and the 2019 Mexico Open. Hence, despite his 132 ranks, fans expected Kyrgios to give the Spanish ace a run for his money a the Indian Wells.

However, the spectators got more than what they expected, including Meet The Parents and Zoolander star Ben Stiller, who was dragged into the drama while watching the two tennis stars take each other on from the stand with wife Christine Taylor.

One of Kyrgios' outburst in the game against Nadal came when he singled out the Hollywood star in the crowd while dealing with a heckler.

The exchange went like this: 

Kyrgios: 'Are you good at tennis?'

Heckler: 'No.'

Kyrgios: 'Exactly, so don't tell me how to play. [Pointing at Stiller and his wife, who were sitting nearby] Do I tell him how to act? No.'

While the exchange amused the spectators, several Kyrgios critics called out the Australian's poor behaviour at a global tennis event. One may recall that in 2019, Kyrgios was infamously handed a suspended ban of 16 weeks and an additional fine of 25,000 dollars for 'aggravated behaviour' after a meltdown in Cincinnati and a tirade at the governing body of the ATP who the Aussie firebrand labelled 'corrupt'.

The typical Kyrgios drama started in the first set, which went to a gripping tie break. After falling into a 0-6 hole, the Australian vented his frustration by telling the crowd to 'F*** Off', which could be heard all the way back to Melbourne. The chair umpire had no choice but to hand him a point penalty for court violation, which meant he lost the set.

Kyrgios roared to life and channelled his aggression into productive tennis in the second set, and displayed some outrageous tennis to stun Nadal, who is yet to lose a single match in 2022. 

However, the Aussie found himself in some drama yet again. While the Ben Stiller verbal exchange amused the spectators, the next incident turned out to be ugly. In the third and deciding set, while the scores were locked at 3-3, a spectator decided to scream while Kyrgios was serving, costing him the point and eventually the match.

An annoyed Kyrgios had a meltdown, abusing the heckler and also chair umpire Carlos Bernardes. "How long are you going to let that s**t go on for?" Kyrgios raged. 

"How long, bro? How long? If you had done something about it before now, it wouldn't have happened. It happens again and again and again. Look at the f***ing score ... it's your job to control (heckling fans), no one else's," he expressed.

"You're allowing it over and over and over again, say something. Well done bro, well done. Unbelievable job of controlling the crowd," the Australian added.

To cap off the tirade, Kyrgios asked the chair umpire, "Are you, like?" before pointing to his head and making a face to insinuate the chair umpire might be stupid.

Finally, when Kyrgios lost the game, he shook hands with Nadal before smashing his racket into the court - forcing a ball boy to duck for cover.

In a post-match press conference, Kyrgios insisted the ugly incident was barely worthy of comment and not on the scale, for example, of Alexander Zverev's meltdown in Mexico, which saw the German being booted out of the tournament for bashing an umpire's chair with his racket.

Kyrgios said, "What would you like me to say about it? Obviously, was that my intention? No. Because I threw a racket. Did I throw the racket anywhere near him originally? It landed a metre from my foot and skidded, and nearly hit him. I'm human. Things happen like that."

"It was an accident. It most definitely wasn't like Zverev. It was a complete accident. I didn't hit him, thankfully. It wasn't my intention. So, thankfully, he's OK,"

In contrast, Nadal was a gentleman throughout the contest and reserved praise for Kyrgios despite the drama the Australian unleashed.

"I think Nick had a great attitude during the whole match in terms of fighting spirit, and of course, he has his personality, his character," Nadal said.

"Sometimes he does things that I don't like, but I respect because of a different character, different kind of points of view, and different kind of education."

Nadal will face the future in the semifinals. He'll play 18-year-old fellow Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, who beat defending champion and No. 12 seed Cameron Norrie, 6-4, 6-3.