Nick Kyrgios returned to action at Wimbledon and risked a fine by using some foul language during a rant. The Australian was competing in the men’s doubles on Wednesday alongside Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik and voiced his anger during the second set of their encounter against Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic.
Kyrgios was handed several fines during his last SW19 appearance in 2022, when he made it to the final, and has previously addressed swearing in front of the Royal Box. On this occasion, he told the umpire he was willing to take another fine and criticised “dumb” regulations.
“Honestly at this point you can fine me, I honestly don’t even care,” the 31-year-old said. “Honestly you can fine me, I don’t give a s***. All these rules are so dumb anyway.”
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It was unclear what the umpire had said to trigger the outburst, which occurred after Arevalo and Pavic secured a break to take a 1-0 lead at the beginning of the second set. Following the exchange, he appeared to shake his head while adjusting his cap and returning to his position on court.
According to the Grand Slam rulebook, Kyrgios could face a substantial fine for swearing.
“Players shall not use audible obscenity within the precinct of the tournament site. Violation of this Section shall subject a player to a fine up to $50,000 (£37,000) for each violation,” the rules read.
“Players and their accredited support team members shall at all times conduct themselves in a sportsmanlike manner and give due regard to the authority of officials and the rights of opponents, spectators and others. Violation of this Section shall subject a player to a fine up to $100,000 for each violation.”
View 2 ImagesKyrgios was joined by Alexander Bublik in the doubles(Image: BBC)
Arevalo and Pavic established an early lead and the Kyrgios-Bublik partnership failed to win any of the opening six points. Just one break was needed for the seeded pair to win the opening set 6-3, with Kyrgios and Bublik failing to convert their only break point.
After they were broken early in the second set, Kyrgios and Bublik kept themselves in touch against opponents who made the semi-finals in 2025.
However, they were unable to secure the crucial break back, losing 6-3, 6-4 to allow their opponents to advance to a second-round meeting with Great Britain’s Marcus Willis and David Stevenson.
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Though Kyrgios’ partner Bublik has already progressed to the second round of the men’s singles, the duo struggled against their seeded doubles opponents. Kyrgios himself boasts one Grand Slam doubles title, having won the Australian Open alongside fellow Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis in 2022.