By Michael Chammas
Nick Kyrgios has escaped punishment for answering his phone on court before Saturday afternoon's mixed doubles match at the Australian Open.
Kyrgios raised eyebrows when he decided to take a call from friends before his match with girlfriend Ajla Tomljanovic, forcing officials to investigate the incident overnight.
While players are prohibited from using their phones during matches, the 20-year-old won't be sanctioned given he answered the call before the pre-match meeting.
The Australian Open released a statement on Sunday morning revealing the case had now been closed.
No punishment: Nick Kyrgios has escaped punishment for answering his phone on court.Credit: Getty Images
"Referee reviewed the situation," the statement said.
"As Nick walked on to the court before his match he answered a phone call then hung up. This happened prior to the pre-match meeting and no further action wil be taken. The incident has been closed."
The news comes the same day Australian Open boss Craig Tiley said Kyrgios is good for business.
While Tiley can't condone some of his on-court antics and would prefer the 20-year-old let his racquet do the talking, the tournament director says Kyrgios puts bums on seats.
"Nick's created another element to the event and brought a lot to the sport because there's a lot of intrigue around him," Tiley told AAP on Sunday.
"It's kind of interesting because you read the commentary about what people say about Nick and just listen to social conversation and people want to watch him.
"For whatever reason, whether it's for his brilliant shots or they want to see him do something on the court, be the entertainer, people want to watch him.
"He's got the flair and the colour and the entertainment and the non-traditional look about him.
"So there's that an intrigue and interest that gets people wanting to find out more about him.
"So from an event point of view, he adds colour. He adds to the sport.
"But there's a fine line. We have a circle in tennis and there's a code and I'm respectful of our sport and you want players to stay within that code."
The latest Kyrgios incident occurred in the straight sets mixed doubles match loss against the No.1-ranked Ivan Dodig and Sania Mirza, with Kyrgios later revealing he answered a call from his mates.
"Some of my friends called me," Kyrgios said.
When asked if it was something important, Kyrgios replied: "Kind of, not really".
Given the match-fixing allegations that were surfaced this week, the timing of Kyrgios' boundary testing actions were questionable.
While there is no suggestion Kyrgios was involved in suspicious activity, it is not a good look for the sport dealing with major accusations labelled at its players.
Under the tour policy "A player is not allowed to use any electronic devices (eg CD players, mobile phones, etc.) during matches, unless approved by the supervisor".
Given he answered the call before the match, the tournament officials decided he wouldn't receive a code violation.
After the match Kyrgios also confirmed he and Tomljanovic were dating, following months of speculation, joking that he had to "scrape the barrel" to describe why she was a good mixed doubles partner.
Asked how different it was playing mixed doubles with his girlfriend compared to other women, Kyrgios said: "It was a little bit tougher at times".
"It was good though. We practise a lot together. To be honest it was easy. I know what her tendencies are on court, I know what her strengths are so I know what she likes to do out there. It was easy.
"It was tough going up against the No.1 seeds and to be honest I thought if we played anybody else I felt we had a fair chance of winning. I felt we were one of the better pairs but it was a tough match up today."
Tomljanovic said it was a unique experience.
"It was definitely a first," she said.
"We practised a lot in the off-season and we know each other pretty well. It was fun, but I really don't like to lose, so at the end of the day I wish we could done better."
Asked if the tournament would miss Kyrgios following his drama-charged third-round exit on Friday night, Tiley said: "The tournament always takes care of itself in the second week."Will we miss colourful characters? We always will," he said.
"But we know when when it comes to ticket sales, in the second week there's never many seats left.
"We've got great players left - Djokovic, Serena Williams, Vika Azarenka, Federer, Andy Murray, Maria Sharapova, Nishikori - it's got a great line-up, week two."We've got Aussies - Bernie Tomic and Dasha Gavrilova - and if it was Nick, that would be great too."
with AAP