US Open: Nick Kyrgios involved in new controversy as umpire gives him pep talk

Nick Kyrgios

Roger Federer on Thursday set-up a US Open third round clash against Nick Kyrgios who found himself at the centre of an impartiality row after an umpire climbed down from his chair to tell him: "I want to help you".

Federer, 37, made it to the second round here by seeing off Frenchman Benoit Paire 7-5, 6-4, 6-4. Also going through were Novak Djokovic and Maria Sharapova. However, Caroline Wozniacki was knocked out by Lesia Tsurenko.

Federer certainly wasn't pleased with umpire Mohamed Lahyani's decision to leave his chair. "It's not the umpire's role to go down from the chair. Conversations can change your mindset. It can be a physio, a doctor, an umpire for that matter," Federer said.

Kyrgios reached the third round by seeing off France's Pierre-Hugues Herbert 4-6, 7-6 (8/6), 6-3, 6-0. The match created a huge storm after respected umpire Lahyani lost patience with the 30th seed and climbed down from his chair to tell the Australian, trailing by a set and 3-0, to try harder. "I want to help you," Lahyani could be heard saying.

Under-fire umpire escapes sanction
New York: Mohamed Lahyani, the US Open umpire who came down from his chair to give Australia's Nick Kyrgios a pep talk, "went beyond protocol" but will be allowed to continue officiating, organisers said yesterday. "The US Open determined that chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani's conduct during Thursday's second-round match involving Nick Kyrgios and Pierre-Hugues Herbert went beyond protocol," said a statement. "Lahyani was advised to adhere to proper protocols in all matches that he officiates moving forward. He will continue to officiate during the 2018 US Open."

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