NICK KYRGIOS admitted he “couldn’t give a f***” that he was booed by the “disrespectful” Mexico Open crowd as he retired hurt.
The Australian, 24, was forced to pull out of his match with Ugo Humbert in Acapulco due to a wrist injury.
After receiving attention from the trainer and dropping the opening set 6-3 in 32 minutes, defending champion Kyrgios could not carry on and shook hands visibly in serious discomfort.
But the crowd were not exactly sympathetic as they jeered the Australian, who was seeded sixth.
Kyrgios, 24, hit back in his press conference, though.
He said: “I couldnt give a f***. I literally couldnt give a f***. I’m not healthy. I tried to come here, I tried to play.
“I’ve been doing media here, and helping out. I tried to play, I tried to give the fans a little bit of tennis. And then they’re disrespectful. I literally couldn’t give a f***.”
Fans would have had high hopes to see Kyrgios in action after he won the title 12 months ago.
He controversially beat Rafael Nadal en route to the final – in a match which included underarm serves from the Aussie and a bitter war of words afterwards – where he then saw off Alexander Zverev.
Nadal and Zverev both made safe passages to the second round this year, with Stan Wawrinka, Grigor Dimitrov, Kyle Edmund and Felix Auger-Aliassime among the big names through.
But after missing tournaments in New York and Delray Beach due to shoulder and wrist problems, Kyrgios’ body was clearly not ready for his Acapulco defence.
He could barely hit a backhand and resorted to slices or inside-out forehands before calling for a medical timeout at 4-1 down to strap his left wrist.
Speaking after his first match since losing to Nadal at last month’s Australian Open, Kyrgios added: “My wrist is just not ready to play.
“I could feel it on every backhand. It’s unfortunate after the memories I had last year. It’s tough for me.”
Kyrgios will lose the 500 ranking points he picked up by winning the tournament last year and is set to drop from No23 to No38 in the ATP world rankings.
