Thursday 26 September 2019 11:47, UK
Nick Kyrgios has been given a suspended 16-week ban from the ATP Tour following the conclusion of an investigation into his explosive second-round loss at the Cincinnati Masters last month.
The Australian was handed a record fine of $113,000 (approximately £90,000) after committing eight offences during his match with Karen Khachanov, including verbally abusing umpire Fergus Murphy and spitting towards the official.
The ban, along with a further fine of $25,000 (approximately £20,000), will kick in if Kyrgios commits a similar offence within a six-month period, while he must also agree to continued support from a mental coach during tournaments and seek extra help from a specialist in behavioural management before the end of the year.
Kyrgios was charged with having committed aggravated behaviour under the player major offence provision in the ATP code, and an investigation by Gayle David Bradshaw, the tour's executive vice-president, rules and competition, concluded that was proven.
An ATP statement read: "The investigation found a pattern of behaviour related to Kyrgios's verbal abuse of officials and/or spectators in the past 12 months that constitutes a violation."
The six-month period will begin the Monday after Kyrgios accepts the ruling. The 24-year-old, ranked 27 in the world, has five working days in which to lodge an appeal should he wish to do so.
A separate investigation into comments made by Kyrgios after his first-round win over Steve Johnson at the US Open, when he called the ATP corrupt for giving him such a big fine, concluded he had not committed a major offence.
Kyrgios quickly backtracked from the comments, claiming he had meant to accuse the ATP of double standards rather than corruption.
The ATP statement concluded: "Following a clarification issued by the player the following day, it was determined that the incident did not constitute a player major offence, and no additional penalties were applied."
