Tempers flare in Fernando Verdasco win as Nick Kyrgios eases past Fabio Fognini at Miami Open
Verdasco beats Thanasi Kokkanakis after argument involving Australian's father, with the Spaniard saying: "I never met his dad before and I told him that I'm really sorry"
Tuesday 27 March 2018 17:17, UK
There was controversy in the match between Fernando Verdasco and Thanasi Kokkinakis at Miami Open while Nick Kyrgios made light work of Fabio Fognini in a third-round clash which failed to ignite.
Qualifier Kokkinakis, who upset Roger Federer in the second round, was unable to build on the biggest win of his career against Verdasco.
The 34-year-old rallied from two mini-breaks down in the decisive tiebreaker to beat Kokkinakis 3-6 6-4 7-6 (7-4) in a brutal encounter lasting two hours and 54 minutes. But it came to life in the final set following a row involving Verdasco and Kokkinakis' father in the crowd.
Tempers flared after Verdasco accused Kokkinakis Sr of talking during points, before a verbal bust-up with the young Australian. But when speaking to Sky Sports after his win, Verdasco apologised for complaining about Kokkinakis' father.
"I was losing my focus because of this person talking between first and second serve and also in the third set when I doubled faulted and he started screaming and shouting supporting Thanasi so I told him to be respectful," said Verdasco.
The argument did have more of an adverse affect on Kokkinakis who almost visibly seemed to shrink and go into his shell as if his head was totally distracted just rethinking everything about that argument. A match like that never comes down to the stats really. It's about emotion and who can hold their head at the most pressurised moments and obviously the tie-break was key for Verdasco.
"I didn't mean to do anything wrong and Thanasi started talking to me when I didn't mean to disrupt him or try to lose his focus at all.
"I told him I'm sorry and I didn't know who this person was and actually it was his dad, I never met his dad before and I told him that I'm really sorry."
Verdasco will meet Pablo Carreno Busta in the fourth round after the Spanish 16th seed saw off the challenge from American Steve Johnson 6-4 6-4.
Kyrgios made a successful comeback after being sidelined with an elbow injury since Australia's Davis Cup loss to Germany almost two months ago by dispatching Dusan Lajovic in just 49 minutes at the weekend and he continued his fine form by seeing off the flamboyant Italian in a meeting which failed to live up to the hype.
The 17th seed from Australia came through 6-3 6-3 and will now meet fourth seed Alexander Zverev, after the German recorded a 2-6 6-2 6-4 comeback victory against Spanish veteran David Ferrer.
"Honestly, I was hoping to have a bit more court-time to test out the body because I actually haven't played a match where my body has been tested," said Kyrgios. "I'm going to see how it goes in the next round."
Also, Canadian hot-shot Denis Shapovalov continued his fine recent form by upsetting 11th seed Sam Querrey from America 6-4 3-6 7-5.
The 18-year-old moves on to face Borna Coric, who reached the semi-finals at Indian Wells, after the Croatian continued his strong run of results with a 5-7 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 success against Jack Sock.
World No 8 Kevin Anderson recorded a 4-6 6-2 6-3 victory over Russia's Karen Khachanov to book a meeting with either Frances Tiafoe or Tomas Berdych, who were forced off due to darkness with the American leading 5-4 in the deciding set.
You can watch more ATP Masters 1000 action from the Miami Open when we continue our coverage on Tuesday from 4pm on Sky Sports Arena and Sky Sports Main Event.
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