Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka lost his nerve in a peculiar way and suffered defeat in the singles match of the Cincinnati ATP tournament against Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz.
In the second round of the singles of the US Cincinnati ATP tournament, they met Japan Yoshihito Nishioka and Poland Hubert Hurkacz.
Nishioka, who is ranked 52 in the ATP ranking, lost to Hurkacz, who is ranked seventh, 6–3, 6–7 and 1–6.
The 28-year-old Nishioka had already taken a hard win against his Polish opponent, but in the end Hurkacz, who has won eight singles ATP tournaments in his career, won the second and third sets.
In the lead of the second set, the Japanese started to lose his grip, and finally lost the tie-break of a tight set 4–7.
In the third set, when Hurkacz took a 3–1 lead with a pass break, Nishioka began to vent his frustration in a special way. He decided to hit the ball over the stands and out of the arena. After that, he asked the ball girl for a new ball and kicked it out of the arena as well.
The judge then sentenced him to a point penalty for his behavior.
Next, in Hurkacz’s passing turn, when the Pole passed, the ace Nishioka loaded the ball somewhere behind the stands. After that, the referee gave the Japanese a second penalty (game penalty), which ended the serving shift in question and Hurkacz took a 4–1 lead.
– What is he doing? He has completely lost his mind. I mean, he knows the rules, he knows exactly what the consequences are, the broadcast commentator wondered.
During the break, Nishioka sat down in the corner of the field to hide behind the advertising sign.
After the Japanese finally lost his nerve, it was easy for the 27-year-old Hurkasz to win the match without any problems.
“I was already frustrated before the break”
The Pole said in the post-match interview by Tennis.com Nishioka seemed tired.
– Nishioka told me that he had back problems. In the important points he played amazingly well and maybe he had a bit of luck.
Nishioka said that he was already frustrated before the tie-break of the second set.
– In the third set, when he broke my serve, I felt like all the points went to him and none to me.
The Japanese apologized to his fans for his behavior and said he was already looking forward to the US Open at the turn of the month.
Most of the world’s top players participate in the ATP tournament in Cincinnati.
The doubles will feature the Wimbledon winning pair Harri Heliövaara / Henry Patten. They were in the quarterfinals with a 0–1 loss Wesley Koolhof and Nikola Mekticia against when the match was suspended due to rain.