|
 Kyrgios was fined $10,000 and sparked a global uproar after telling
Wawrinka during a match in Montreal this week that Australian tour
rival Thanasi Kokkinakis had slept with Donna Vekic.
Wawrinka has been romantically linked with the 19-year-old Croatian,
who played mixed doubles with Kokkinakis at the Australian Open last
year.
A furious Wawrinka demanded the ATP take action against Kyrgios, who
later issued a public apology but faces the threat of suspension
from the tour.
Pundits and top players, including world number one Novak Djokovic,
have queued up to criticize Kyrgios but the response from
Australia's tennis establishment has been far more sanguine.
Tennis Australia issued a statement saying that Kyrgios and his team
needed "support", while Masur played down the sledge as "not
confrontational" and said he was still in Australia's Davis Cup
plans for their semi-final against Britain next month.
"How punitive can you be? At what point do you start to move
forward?" Masur told local broadcaster Fox Sports.
"Nick is paying a very heavy price financially. Obviously the
consequences will go beyond this week, for example amongst his peers
on the tour, the ATP player council, they'll have their say."
However former Australian great Judy Dalton says the player should
be banned from Davis Cup and the upcoming U.S. Open over his
"disgraceful" comments.
"He's a professional tennis player and you just don't behave like
that," she said on Channel Nine's TODAY show. "It's no use fining
him -- he just says, 'well I can afford to pay the fine, why should
I worry about it?'
"For the women, it's just so disgraceful. To Donna, it is so
demeaning for her, and I think that it doesn't encourage women to
come into the sport, certainly not the junior girls if they're going
to put up with that."
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Kyrgios, who has made over $700,000 in prize money alone this year,
was also fined $2,500 by the ATP for a comment made to a ball-kid
during his match against Wawrinka and has alienated fans previously
with his behavior, not least at Wimbledon this year when he appeared
to "tank" a game by not trying following a disputed call.
The $12,500 total for the fines is a fraction of the $44,600 he
earned from reaching the tournament's third round.
"We're looking at a young kid, he's got enormous potential, he's a
good kid at heart," Masur added. "We're trying to put things in
place behind the scenes that can make a difference and help Nick
achieve that potential.
"Nick polarizes opinion but there have been a lot of young prodigies
come onto tour that have been exactly the same.
"Look at John McEnroe, he was the superbrat who ended up becoming
one of the most loved players in the game. Nick is on a journey...
this is all part of a learning curve."
Kyrgios, who later apologized on his Facebook page saying his
comments had been "unacceptable on many levels", was jeered onto the
court and during his third-round loss to American John Isner by
spectators at the Montreal tournament on Thursday.
His brother Christos was on Friday kicked off a Sydney radio station
for comments he made while defending Kyrgios.
(Reporting by Ian Ransom; editing by Sudipto Ganguly/Mitch Phillips)
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