It is a measure of how far Nick Kyrgios has come this season that a Canadian Open quarter-final defeat to a top-10 player felt like an upset.
Deep into uncharted territory after winning 15 of his last 16 matches, an exhausted Kyrgios hit the wall against Hubert Hurkacz in Montreal, suffering his first loss since the Wimbledon final as the Polish eighth seed prevailed 7-6 (7-4), 6-7, (5-7) 6-1.
Kyrgios, 27, has maintained a hectic pace since his defeat to Novak Djokovic at the All England Club, claiming the Atlanta Open doubles title with Thanasi Kokkinakis despite withdrawing from the singles with a knee injury, then completing a clean sweep of singles and doubles in Washington. It was a monumental effort by the Australian even before he toppled Daniil Medvedev, the world No 1 and defending champion, earlier this week, but it has taken a physical and mental toll that was evident in his subdued mood against Hurkacz.
Kyrgios whistled through his service games, barely pausing between deliveries as the ever-gentlemanly Hurkacz rushed to observe the rule that states “the receiver must play to the reasonable pace of the server”.
Not for the first time in his career, Kyrgios explored the boundaries of what might be deemed reasonable, although Hurkacz hardly seemed to mind as he matched the Canberran blow for devastating blow. The Pole won the first set on a tiebreak before Kyrgios, weary but determined, replied in kind.
Midway through the second breaker, Kyrgios was helped on his way by an outrageous stroke of good fortune, the ball bouncing off the net tape twice before trickling over to Hurkacz’s side. But just as the momentum appeared to have shifted, Hurkacz left the court for an eight-minute comfort break, completely knocking the wind out of his opponent’s sails.
The Pole was within the rules, but Kyrgios’s displeasure was evident. Tellingly, however, Kyrgios could barely even summon the energy to complain. The tone of his exchange with the chair umpire, Adel Nour, was conversational rather than anarchic – even if, predictably, his language left something to be desired.
“What does the rule say?” Kyrgios inquired. “I didn’t need to change clothes. No one needs to change clothes, no one. You don’t have to. My body cools down.
“What do you want me to do? We’re not fucking machines, bro. We can’t just go and stop, go and stop.”
Kyrgios, who fell away alarmingly in the decider, later allayed fears of serious injury, reiterating his suggestion that the delay had simply caused him to stiffen up.
“My body hasn’t been feeling great the last week,” said Kyrgios, who stretched out his lower back frequently early in his match against Medvedev and clutched at the area just a point into his joust with Hurkacz.
“I was feeling the abdominal a little bit before the match, my knees hurt. Obviously, when you’re playing and you stop playing for like five to 10 minutes, it doesn’t help your body. My body was so stiff after that, I couldn’t move properly. My abdominal was hurting.
“I mean, it’s within the rules. I’m not going to complain. I completely stiffened up. After the second set, like I’m not a machine, I’m a human. My knees were sore, my back was sore, my abdominal was sore. I was trying to stay moving, but I just stiffened up.”
It is not the first time this week that a bathroom break has caused controversy. Casper Ruud, who set up a semi-final meeting with Hurkacz after inflicting a 6-1, 6-2 defeat on home hope Felix Auger-Aliassime, received a code violation during his fourth round victory over Roberto Bautista Agut after leaving the court for 11 minutes to change his clothes. Ruud fell foul of chair umpire Fergus Murphy after not only exceeding the allotted time, but also failing to use the facilities.
“You have to go to the bathroom when you say you’re going to the bathroom,” Murphy told Ruud, who will be fined for his troubles. “When you don’t go, I have to give you a warning for not going.”
Hurkacz, who won in Miami last year and is through to the fourth Masters 1000 semi-final of his career, is the only player left in the draw to have won a title at this level. In the lower half, Britain’s Dan Evans defeated Tommy Paul 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 to set up a last-four showdown with Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta, who defeated Jack Draper 7-6 (7-4), 6-1.
In the women’s event in Toronto, Simona Halep, the resurgent 15th seed, beat Coco Gauff 6-4, 7-6 (7-2). She will meet Jessica Pegula in the last four after the American seventh seed came through 6-3, 6-3 against Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan.
In the other half, Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil followed up her career-best victory over world No 1 Iga Swiatek with a battling 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 win over Belinda Bencic, the 12th seed. She will play last year’s finalist Karolina Pliskova, the 14th seed, who defeated China’s Qinwen Zheng 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.