Roger Federer has added his criticism to the negative reaction surrounding the on-court comments of Nick Kyrgios. The 20-year-old Australian's derogatory remarks about Stanislas Wawrinka and Donna Vekic were picked up by on-court microphones during his match against Wawrinka in Montreal.
"I think we all agree that he definitely crossed the line by a long shot," Federer was quoted as saying by the Cincinnati Enquirer, speaking to press before the tournament. "We're not used to that kind of talk in tennis. I know in other sports it's quite common, maybe normal. Not in our sport, really.
"I think it's normal that the tour comes down hard on him and explains to him that it's not the way forward."
Federer described the controversy as "not great for the sport, one that I think many players have tried to build up and make it a good image, build up a good image."
"We want kids to be wanting to get into this sport because it's a nice sport," Federer added.
Kyrgios has been fined the mamixum $10,000 by the ATP, which is conducting further investigation.