'Tanking' Kyrgios' extraordinary Wimbledon exit

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MORE: Video - Kyrgios gives up, 'tanks' second set

An erratic display from Nick Kyrgios in which he appeared to stop trying at one point saw him dumped out of Wimbledon by Richard Gasquet on Monday.

The Australian succumbed to a 7-5 6-1 6-7 (7-9) 7-6 (8-6) loss in a performance that was a far cry from his battling come-from-behind victory over Milos Raonic in the third round.

Having lost the opening set, Kyrgios was on the back foot in the second when he sensationally told the umpire he was "not playing" after receiving a warning for swearing.

In the following game Kyrgios gave the impression of someone who had given up entirely, walking across the baseline away from what looked to be a returnable serve and lazily dumping a slice into the net.

He stirred at the start of the third set, winning the opening three games before taking a tie-break to keep the contest alive.

But his fightback amounted to nothing as Gasquet won the fourth-set breaker to progress to the quarter-finals.

Afterwards, Gasquet admitted that Kyrgios had deliberately helped him win the second set.

“It’s true, he give me a little bit this set,” Gasquet said.

"Of course, I don’t know what happened. He was a little bit frustrated, but ... yeah, he was a little bit angry, a little bit frustrated, I saw that.

“Sometimes it happens. He’s not the only one to did it. Even the best player in the world did it in the past.”

 

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