Nick Kyrgios marked his return to Wimbledon by swearing at an umpire and saying he did not care if he was fined.
The controversial Australian on Wednesday was playing in his first match at the All England Club since losing the 2022 final to Novak Djokovic. Playing men's doubles alongside Alexander Bublik, they were already a set down to Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic when Kyrgios' serve was broken at the start of the second.
As Kyrgios sat down at the changeover, French umpire Manuel Absolu said something to the fiery 31-year-old.
"Honestly, at this point you can fine me, I honestly don't even care," Kyrgios responded. "Honestly you can fine me. I don't give a s---. All these rules are so dumb anyway."
Kyrgios was fined three times during Wimbledon in 2022, twice for swearing and once for spitting in the direction of a spectator. He has been fined several other times in his career, including a $113,000 sanction from the ATP at the 2019 Western and Southern Open, when he swore at and berated the umpire and smashed a couple of rackets, and a total of $60,000 for a series of angry outbursts at the Indian Wells and Miami Open events in 2022.
Plagued by injury since his surprise run four years ago, Kyrgios did not receive a wild card in singles but was given one to play in men's doubles.
Arevalo and Pavic, seeded sixth, went on to win the match 6-3, 6-4 on a packed Court 17.
PA contributed to this report.