Nick Kyrgios throws banana peel, gets angry at reporter

The Australian top-seed, Nick Kyrgios secured a first-round win against Italy's Lorenzo Sonega. He beat Sonega 6-2, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (1). In the process, he qualified for the second round of the ongoing Australian Open 2020.

After the match, Kyrgios started cleaning up his surroundings near the courtside bench. Similar to all other tennis players, Kyrgios gave his towels and other souvenirs to the supporters present inside the stadium.

However, while doing so, Nick ran out of souvenirs. It is then that he threw a banana peel or a half-eaten banana into the crowd. One of the spectators caught that peel. It appeared that the person willingly accepted the gesture from Kyrgios. He seemed happy to have received the banana peel from his idol.

During the post-match press conference, a reporter brought up this incident, which Kyrgios did not appreciate. The reporter asked, "Nick, there was a moment at the end of the match where you were cleaning up, I think you tossed away a banana. Was that just so the ball-kids wouldn't have to do it?"

Kyrgios seemed annoyed to have received that question. He answered unimpressed, "You've got to do better than that, bro. Is that a serious question? Oh my god. Next question."

Essentially Sports claims that the journalist might have referred to another similar incident involving a "banana." Earlier during the qualifiers in Melbourne, world number 231 Elliot Benchetrit asked one of the ball girls to peel a banana for him. She looked up at umpire John Blom, seeking approval. However, the umpire shut down Benchetrit's request, and the girl quickly handed over the fruit to the athlete, which annoyed Benchetrit.

Back to Kyrgios, one of the other reporters asked the Aussie if he was distracted by a power cut in the second set. In reply, Kyrgios exuded confidence and reminded the reporter about his straight-sets victory, which meant that he wasn't heavily distracted.

Kyrgios hit 14 aces and in turn, raised AUD2,800 for his nation's bushfire relief fund. When Kyrgios won his first round match, John McEnroe announced a AUD1,000 donation to the Aussie fund for every set that Kyrgios will win in Melbourne starting from the second round. The Aussie tennis star will now meet Gilles Simon in the round-of-64.