Kyrgios withdraws from French Open

After a tantrum in Italy last week, Nick Kyrgios withdrew from the French Open on Friday.

The reason for the Australian player's withdrawal was not immediately clear.

Last week at the Italian Open, the 36th-ranked Kyrgios was defaulted and fined during his second-round match after an outburst of rage. Trailing against Norwegian qualifier Casper Ruud, Kyrgios slammed his racket to the clay and kicked a water bottle. Then he picked up a white chair and flung it onto the court.

Kyrgios was fined and lost ATP points but escaped suspension and was expected to play in Paris.

His withdrawal came only days after Kyrgios posted a video online in which he said the French Open "sucks" when compared to Wimbledon, where he trained recently.

In 2015, Kyrgios insulted Stan Wawrinka with crude remarks during a match in Montreal. He was fined $12,500 and given a suspended 28-day ban. He also attracted criticism for deciding not to play at the Olympics because of a spat with an Australian team official, and for firing back at retired players who have offered advice.

Kyrgios joins the likes of Tomas Berdych, Kevin Anderson, John Isner and Milos Raonic in pulling out of the Paris major.

Britain's Norrie, ranked 41st in the world, will now face either a qualifier or a lucky loser in the first-round at Roland Garros.

The 24-year-old made no efforts to hide his disdain at the prospect of swapping SW19 for Paris ahead of the start of the tournament on May 26.

'The fact I am here now and then have to go to Paris in a couple of days... French Open sucks compared to this place. Sucks,' Kyrgios, who repeatedly marvelled at the prospect of playing on grass during his live Instagram broadcast, said.

'Get rid of the clay man, who likes the clay? It is so, so bad.'