Tsonga in sensational blow-up at spectator
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga has received a code violation after blowing up at a fan and challenging them to come down to the court.
The sensational moment occurred early in the fourth set of the Frenchman's match with Nick Kyrgios at the Australian Open on Friday night.
KING KYRGIOS: Nick storms past Tsonga into fourth round
Tsonga had just held serve in the opening game of the set when he blew up at a spectator at the change of ends.
Tsonga could be heard berating the fan in French, with the chair umpire telling him "you have to stop."
According to French Channel 7 commentator Henri Leconte, Tsonga was telling the spectator "come down here".
Fellow Channel 7 commentator and Tsonga's former coach Roger Rasheed confirmed that he was furious with something a fan had said during the third-set tiebreaker, won by Kyrgios.
The chair umpire was forced to give Tsonga a code violation for unsportsmanlike conduct, which left the Frenchman even less pleased.
Tsonga later revealed what had made him so angry.
"When I was serving he was telling me 'you are under pressure now, you are under pressure now'.
"I went a little bit crazy because it's not fair.
"The guy was feeling safe because he was upstairs, so I told him to come down and feel the pressure himself."
It was the second code violation issued in the match, after Kyrgios received a bizarre time violation before the match even started.
Kyrgios went on to prevailed in a big-serving battle of wills, downing the Frenchman in four sets to progress to the round of 16.
The Australian's clutch efforts during tiebreaks proved decisive in a 7-6 (7-5) 4-6 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-5) victory, earned in three hours and 17 minutes.
The win sets up a blockbuster fourth-round clash on Sunday night with Bulgarian third seed Grigor Dimitrov.
with AAP
