Nick Kyrgios throws chair at Italian Open and storms off tennis court

Nick Kyrgios threw a chair during a spectacular on-court tantrum at the Italian Open, before storming out and forfeiting his place in the competition.

Kyrgios lets rip at Nadal, Djokovic

Nick Kyrgios has lashed out at Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic, who he accused of having a "sick obsession" with being liked.

After Casper Ruud broke back to make it 1-1 in the deciding set, Kyrgios was given a game penalty for allegedly swearing at a line judge, and promptly exploded with anger.

He slammed his racket down, kicked a water bottle and then hurled a chair onto the court.

Kyrgios told the crowd "I'm done", packed up his bag and walked off to loud whistles and jeers.

It is far from the first controversy Kyrgios has been involved in and the Australian, who will automatically forfeit his prize money, will likely face a heavy fine at the very least.

The 24-year-old was given a ban by the ATP in 2016 after walking off court midway through a match against Mischa Zverev at the Shanghai Masters and may well find himself suspended again.

Kyrgios' antics came only 24 hours after he laid into the sport's biggest stars in an interview on the No Challenges Remaining podcast, saying he "could not stand" Novak Djokovic and calling Rafael Nadal "super salty".

Elsewhere, Roger Federer, Nadal and Djokovic each won twice on Thursday to reach the quarter-finals in Rome.

Persistent rain on Wednesday backed up play causing the title contenders to each play twice, but Federer survived a major scare en route to reaching the last eight.

The Swiss eased past Joao Sousa 6-4 6-3 before he saved two match points as he battled back to defeat Borna Coric 2-6 6-4 7-6 (7).

Nadal's progression to the quarter-finals was far more serene. The eight-time Rome champion cruised past Jeremy Chardy 6-0 6-1 before quickly dispatching Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-1 6-0.

Djokovic also enjoyed a comfortable progression to the quarters. The Serbian defeated Canadian youngster Denis Shapovalov 6-1 6-3 which he followed up with a 6-3 6-0 demolition of Philipp Kohlschreiber.

Djokovic will now take on seventh seed Juan Martin del Potro, Nadal will meet his compatriot Fernando Verdasco, while Federer plays either home favourite Fabio Fognini or Stefanos Tsitsipas.

The last remaining quarter-final sees sixth seed Kei Nishikori take on Argentina's Diego Schwartzman.