Nick Kyrgios accuses fans of racist slur in loss to Andy Murray at Stuttgart Open
Nick Kyrgios says a racist slur was behind his fiery exchange with the crowd after being downed in the Stuttgart Open semi-finals by Andy Murray.
Murray will play his first grass-court singles final since winning Wimbledon in 2016 after beating Kyrgios in straight sets.
The British three-time Grand Slam winner showed signs of his old form as he beat Kyrgios 7-6 (5), 6-2, holding his serve throughout the match.
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However, Murray's victory was somewhat overshadowed by the abuse levelled at Kyrgios, with the Aussie star taking to Instagram to vent his frustrations after the match.
"When is this going to stop? Dealing with racial slurs from the crowd?" he wrote.
Nick Kyrgios smashed his racquet after a fiery exchange with members of the crowd during the match Getty
"I UNDERSTAND THAT MY BEHAVIOUR ISN'T THE BEST ALL THE TIME - but 'you little BLACK SHEEP', 'shut up and play', little comments like this are NOT ACCEPTABLE.
"When I retaliate the to the crowd I get penalised. This is messed up."
Kyrgios was visibly frustrated with the crowd on numerous occasions during the two-setter, first penalised a point and then a game for unsportsmanlike conduct in the second set, before smashing his racquet after a fiery exchange with members of the crowd.
The 27-year-old's fiery outburst resulted in the tournament supervisor being called before Murray eventually closed out the contest.
"You expect things to happen against him, so I'm not surprised when they do," Murray said after the match.
"It was a very frustrating set for him to lose and he broke a racquet. He also had a back and forth with the umpire and something seemed to happen in the crowd.
"But I didn't really hear anything after the first set."
Murray said he did not hear anything from the crowd after the opening set Getty
Murray continued his strong form ahead of Wimbledon after stunning Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarterfinals on Friday, the first win for Murray in six years against an opponent ranked in the top five.
It's the second final of 2022 for Murray, who lost to Aslan Karatsev at the hard-court Sydney Tennis Classic in January, and the first time that he has reached two finals in the same season since 2017.
Murray, who has struggled to get back to his best following hip surgery, last won a tour singles title at the European Open in Belgium in 2019 and has a 46-23 record in finals.
Murray's opponent in Sunday's final will be second-seeded Italian Matteo Berrettini, who prevailed 7-6 (7), 7-6 (5) over Oscar Otte in a tight match with no breaks of serve. Berrettini saved set point in the first-set tiebreak and needed three match points to close out the win.
Murray and Berrettini each won one of their two career meetings, with Berrettini the victor in their only grass-court match at Queen's Club last year.
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