Nick Kyrgios fined, handed suspended 16-week ban and told he needs special behavioural management

The Australian was handed a record fine of 113,000 US dollars (approximately £90,000) after committing eight offences during his match with Karen Khachanov, including verbally abusing umpire Fergus Murphy and spitting towards the official.

The ban, along with a further fine of 25,000 dollars (approximately £20,000), will kick in if Kyrgios commits a similar offence within a six-month period,

while he must also agree to continued support from a mental coach during tournaments and seek extra help from a specialist in behavioural management before the end of the year.

Kyrgios was charged with having committed aggravated behaviour under the player major offence provision in the ATP code, and an investigation by Gayle David Bradshaw, the tour's executive vice-president, rules and competition, concluded that was proven.

An ATP statement read: "The investigation found a pattern of behaviour related to Kyrgios's verbal abuse of officials and/or spectators in the past 12 months that constitutes a violation."

The six-month period will begin the Monday after Kyrgios accepts the ruling. The 24-year-old, ranked 27, has five working days in which to lodge an appeal should he wish to do so.

There has been criticism of the time it has taken the ATP to reach a decision, with Kyrgios playing in the US Open and the Laver Cup in between.

Any immediate ban would have been complicated by Kyrgios having on Thursday ruled himself out of the next series of events in Asia because of a collarbone injury.

That is perhaps timely given two of Kyrgios' most controversial moments have come at the Shanghai Masters. He was banned for eight weeks in 2016 after appearing to give up during a match against Mischa Zverev, while the following year he was fined again for retiring from a match without apparent cause.

The Australian has been particularly volatile this season and was defaulted from a match in Rome in May after throwing a chair across the court.

A separate investigation into comments made by Kyrgios after his first-round win over Steve Johnson at the US Open, when he called the ATP corrupt in relation to the Cincinnati fine, concluded he had not committed a major offence.

Kyrgios quickly backtracked from the comments, claiming he had meant to accuse the ATP of double standards rather than corruption.

The ATP statement concluded: "Following a clarification issued by the player the following day, it was determined that the incident did not constitute a player major offence, and no additional penalties were applied."

Kyrgios is hoping to return to action at the Davis Cup finals in November.

Nick Kyrgios controversies

Wawrinka sledge, March 2015

Fans' favourite Stan Wawrinka was in Kyrgios' firing line at the 2015 Rogers Cup with a crude remark about his then girlfriend, fellow player Donna Vekic.

The ATP fined Kyrgios 10,000 US dollars as well as handing down a 28-day tour suspended sentence.

Wawrinka tweeted: "So disappointing to see a fellow athlete and colleague be so disrespectful in a way I could never even imagine."

Wimbledon meltdown, June 2015

After a number of controversial calls went against him, Kyrgios went into meltdown mode during his fourth-round match against Richard Gasquet at Wimbledon.

He got a code violation for swearing, argued with the umpire over whether he was taking too long to change his socks and hurled his racket into the air.

As a chorus of boos rang around the court, Kyrgios told his entourage in the coaching box to leave - bowing out of the tournament in four sets.

Shanghai strop, October 2016

Kyrgios was banned from tennis for eight weeks after appearing to give up during a straight-sets defeat to qualifier Mischa Zverev at the Shanghai Masters.

On several occasions, Kyrgios patted down tame serves or wandered off court while the rally was still going on.

He later defended his behaviour by saying he did not owe the spectators anything and that fans could "just leave" if they did not like his attitude.

The ATP fined the Australian 16,500 US dollars for failing to give a full effort, unsportsmanlike conduct and verbal abuse of a spectator.

Kyrgios was then fined an additional 25,000 US dollars and suspended for the rest of the season, a penalty that was reduced on the condition he sought psychological help.

More Shanghai drama, October 2017

The following year, Kyrgios was fined again after retiring during a first-round match against Steve Johnson without any apparent health issues.

Kyrgios had responded to receiving a point penalty from the umpire during the tie-break by saying he would retire if he lost the game.

Queen's bottle incident, June 2018

Another fine came Kyrgios' way last summer after he was caught on TV mimicking a sex act with a water bottle during a change of ends at the Fever-Tree Championships. The BBC was forced to apologise to viewers.

Underarm or underhand?, February 2019

Kyrgios did not break the rules but left Rafael Nadal distinctly unimpressed after attempting an underarm serve during a clash with the Spaniard at the ATP Tour event in Acapulco.

The tactic is considered unsportsmanlike by some and Nadal accused Kyrgios of being disrespectful.

The Australian has continued to use the serve in matches, with varying degrees of success, and other players have followed his example.

Raging in Rome, May 2019

One of Kyrgios' most spectacular meltdowns came at the Italian Open in May during a second-round clash with Casper Ruud.

The Australian reacted furiously to being docked a game for swearing at a line judge early in the third set.

He hurled a chair across the court before packing his bag and walking off before he could be officially defaulted.

He forfeited his prize money and was fined but did not face a ban.

Queen's outbursts, June 2019

Kyrgios picked up more than £13,000 in fines in one day at Queen's Club, with several flash points across two matches.

Umpire Murphy was again in the firing line, with the line-calling the subject of Kyrgios' ire, and the Australian bizarrely mocked the Irish official's hat.