Roger Federer has hit out at chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani over the well-respected official's 'pep talk' with Australian youngster Nick Kyrgios during the latter's US Open second-round win over Pierre-Hugues Herbert on Thursday.
Federer has insisted that Lahyani didn't do the right thing by having a mid-match conversation with Kyrgios, who was looking uninterested after being a set and 3-0 down on a hot and humid day in New York.
Kyrgios had let a couple of serves go past him without even trying to return before the chair umpire got down his seat and had a chat with him.
Lahyani was heard on TV microphones telling Kyrgios: "I want to help you. This isn't you and I know that," according to the BBC.
Kyrgios stepped up after the chat with the chair umpire and went on to win the match 4-6, 7-6 (6), 6-3, 6-0 in two hours and 47 minutes, thereby setting up a third-round clash with Federer.
"It's not the umpire's role to go down from the chair. But I get what he was trying to do. He behaves the way he behaves," Federer said.
"You as an umpire take a decision on the chair, do you like it or don't you like it. But you don't go and speak like that, in my opinion.
"I don't know what he said. I don't care what he said. It was not just about 'How are you feeling? Oh, I'm not feeling so well'. Go back up to the chair. He was there for too long.
"It's a conversation. Conversations can change your mindset. It can be a physio, a doctor, an umpire for that matter."
Lahyani is under review by United States Tennis Association, who in a statement had said that Lahyani had only left his chair to check on Kyrgios' physical condition.
Hebert 'angry' with chair umpire Lahyani
Herbert, who rued not making use of the early break in the second set, insisted that "something changed" in Kyrgios after the pep talk from Lahyani.
"Nick from his side is not to blame as he did not ask for anything. But his behaviour and motivation on the court changed from this moment and then dominated the match," the Frenchman said in a statement.
"On the other hand after seeing the video I am angry with the umpire. He should not go down of [sic] his chair and try to reason Nick. Did this action affect the game? We will never know."
He wasn't coaching me: Kyrgios
Kyrgios though played down the incident and denied Lahyani was "coaching" him during the drama-filled second set.
The Australian has, in the past, got into trouble for letting his frustrations get the better of him. In 2017, he was fined $10,000 for quitting his first-round match at Shanghai Masters against Steve Johnson.
"It's ridiculous. He wasn't coaching me at all. I don't have a coach. I haven't had a coach for, like, years. Of course, he wasn't coaching me. I got some salt from the physio because it was hot and I wasn't feeling great," Kyrgios said.
