Nick Tsagaris - US Open: Nick Kyrgios Earns Controversial Win After Receiving Umpire Pep Talk

An extraordinary mid-match pep talk from the chair umpire has fired Nick Kyrgios into a US Open third-round blockbuster with Roger Federer in New York.

Swedish official Mohamed Lahyani is already under fire for his unprecedented intervention but Kyrgios rolls on after pulling off a drama-charged 4-6 7-5 6-3 6-0 comeback win over Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert.

Kyrgios was trailing 3-0 in the second set, having thrown away the first on a wild second-serve double-fault, when Lahyani left his chair to beg the Australian to start trying for the sake of the paying crowd and to avoid being sanctioned — again — for not giving his best effort.

"I want to help you. I want to help you," Lahyani said.

"I've seen your matches: you're great for tennis.

"Nick, I know this is not you."

The US Open released a statement from tournament referee Brian Earley, in which it was suggested Lahyani only stepped down from his chair due to the level of noise in the stadium and that the experienced umpire was checking whether Kyrgios was suffering an injury or not.

Kyrgios said, "Okay, just call the trainer to the court and I'll try."

But when the trainer arrived and asked what Kyrgios needed treatment for, the Australian said, "I don't know, check my wrist or something … can you just stay out here for like two minutes?"

The umpire's controversial "coaching" was savaged on social media, with fans furious about his perceived bias towards Kyrgios and claiming it was unfair on Herbert.

Kyrgios 'not to blame'

The USTA, already under siege over a succession of rules blunders this grand slam, was also understood to be unimpressed with Lahyani's conduct and investigating the incident.

But it certainly seemed to work for Kyrgios, who hauled himself back into the contest having looked utterly disinterested in the early stages.

Yawning one second, Kyrgios delivered a return winner the next to break Herbert to get back on serve at 4-5 in the second set before offering a subdued fist pump towards his box.

He clinched the tiebreaker to draw level and then break Herbert early in the third set to take command.

Totally revitalised, Kyrgios dropped just three games in the final two sets, sealing victory after two hours and 47 minutes.

Herbert wrote in a statement — in both French and English — that he did not blame Kyrgios for the intervention, but said questions needed to be asked of umpire Lahyani.

"I did not hear the discussion between Lahyani and Nick and it did not affect me at all," the Frenchman wrote.

"Nick from his side is not to blame as he did not ask for anything. But his behaviour and motivation on court changed from this moment and then he dominated the match.

"On the other hand, after seeing the video, I am angry against the umpire.

"He should not go down of [sic] his chair and try to reason [with] Nick. Did this action affect the game? We will never know."

Herbert also hit out at the United States Tennis Association [USTA] after they released a statement siding with Lahyani, suggesting the umpire should not be sanctioned.

"I am even more upset against the statement of the USTA that is clearly taking us for fools," Herbert said.

"[To] err is human but I still wait for explanations.

"When we players are making mistakes on court we are sanctioned."

Kyrgios was also active on social media, hitting back on twitter at Croatian women's player Donna Vekic after the world number 41 weighed in on the matter, referencing that women players are able to receive on-court coaching on the WTA Tour.

'It won't happen again': Federer

Federer later advanced to the third round with a straight-sets win over Frenchman Benoit Paire, 7-5, 6-4, 6-4, confirming a Saturday showstopper with Kyrgios — almost certainly under lights at Arthur Ashe Stadium, world tennis's biggest stage.

The five-time US Open champion said he did not think it was a good look, when asked about the incident after winning his match.

"It's not the umpire's role to go down from the chair, but I get what he was trying to do," the second-seeded Swiss said.

"He [Kyrgios] behaves the way he behaves. 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. That's why it won't happen again. I think everybody knows that."

Asked after the match what the umpire was saying to him when he trailed by a set and a break, Kyrgios said: "He was just concerned about how I was playing, like, 'Nick are you okay?'

"I know what I was doing out there wasn't good. I wasn't really listening to him [Lahyani]. Didn't help me at all.

"He [Herbert] let me back into that set. He should have just served it out.

"I stayed out here in the second set. I had no real choice."

Millman, de Minaur also progress

Elsewhere at the US Open, Australian John Millman scored one of the biggest wins of his career to charge into the third round.

Millman, the world number 55, upset 14th-seeded Italian Fabio Fognini 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 to progress to the last 32 for the second straight year at Flushing Meadows.

A winner over Kyrgios last year, Millman was thrilled to embark on another great run in the Big Apple.

The Queenslander's victory set up a clash with unseeded Kazakh Mikhail Kukushkin, himself a surprise straight-sets winner over Korean young gun Hyeon Chung.

Victory over the world number 84 would catapult Millman into a last-16 showdown with either Kyrgios or 20-time grand slam champion Roger Federer.

Alex de Minaur also made a fuss-free entry to the third round.

The teenage ace could hardly have been more impressive in taking out highly rated young American Frances Tiafoe 6-4, 6-0, 5-7, 6-2 to reach the last 32 for the second successive grand slam.

"I had to play my best tennis today," de Minaur said.

"All credit to Frances, I just had to be very tough throughout the whole match and try to keep my concentration and not get down on myself and always stay positive.

De Minaur next plays Croatian seventh seed Marin Cilic, the 2014 champion, who easily dispatched Polish qualifier Hubert Hurkacz in straight sets, 6-2, 6-0, 6-0.

Matt Ebden and Ajla Tomljanovic both lost.

In a high-quality thriller, Tomljanovic missed a match point deep in the third set of a 6-2, 6-7 (3/7), 7-6 (7/4) defeat at the hands of Czech doubles specialist Katerina Siniankova, while Ebden ran of steam against Philipp Kohlschreiber, going out 6-7 (1-7), 6-3, 6-2, 6-0 to the German.

Wozniacki humbled as other women's seeds progress

Second seed Caroline Wozniacki fell to a straight sets defeat to world number 36, Ukranian Lesia Tsurenko.

This year's Australian Open champion was humbled 6-4, 6-2 on the Louis Armstrong stadium show court in the evening session.

Elsewhere in the women's draw, the majority of the seeds continued their progression with minimal fuss, although fourth seed Angelique Kerber did need three sets to see off Swede Johanna Larsson 6-2, 5-7, 6-4.

Fifth seed Petra Kvitova dispatched Chinese world number 79 Yafan Wang in straight sets, 7-5, 6-3 and last years finalist Madison Keys breezed past fellow countrywoman Bernarda Pera in just 72 minutes, 6-4, 6-1.

However there was disappointment for 11th-seed Daria Kasatkina and Canadian favourite Eugenie Bouchard, who both bowed out in straight sets to Aliaksandra Sasnovich and Marketa Vondrousova respectively.

By: abc.net.au

Nick Tsagaris - A Household Pet Becoming Our Next Pest Is 'Just A Matter Of Time'

Across Australia, legal and illegal pet owners are housing exotic animals like ferrets, venomous pit vipers, Indian ringneck parrots, and Burmese pythons.

While many animals bound for the illegal trade are stopped at our borders, there's no reliable data on how many make it through.

A research paper published in the Journal of Applied Ecology this month has found that there are some key attributes that make an exotic pet owner more likely to release an unwanted or unmanageable pet into the wild.

In Australia, it's some of the larger-growing snakes like boa constrictors and Burmese pythons that could fit the bill.

At the same time, birds like Indian ringneck parrots are kept legally, despite being known to cause significant damage to agriculture in their native territory.

Feral pests like cane toads, rabbits, camels, cats, wild pigs and foxes cause hundreds of millions of dollars in damage to agriculture each year, and devastate native wildlife.

So what are the chances that someone's legal, or illegal exotic pet is going to become Australia's next super pest?

Burmese pythons: a warning from the US

According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), wildlife scientists began noticing fewer medium-sized mammals during surveys of the Florida Everglades in 2003.

Populations of raccoons, bobcats, deer and opossums were plummeting and rabbits disappeared completely.

So scientists released a new population of rabbits fitted with tracking devices into the Everglades.

Within a year, 80 per cent of the rabbits were found in the stomachs of Burmese pythons — a large species of constrictor from South-East Asia that can grow up to 7 metres long in captivity.

By the time the US banned the importation of Burmese pythons for the pet trade in 2012, the population of snakes in the Everglades was out of control, and is now estimated to be in the tens, if not hundreds of thousands.

Burmese pythons, along with common snapping turtles, yellow anacondas and venomous puff adders from Africa are the most likely to establish in Australia if they are released in sufficient numbers, according to a 2016 paper by researchers including Associate Professor Phill Cassey, from the University of Adelaide.

"Burmese pythons are a snake that never stop growing," Dr Cassey said.

"They would be an environmental disaster and they're [already] here in Australia, no doubt about it."

Research shows large-growing snakes released more often

The latest research, from ecologists at Rutgers University in New Jersey, used 18 years of data from the US reptile and amphibian trade.

They found there were several compounding factors that increased the likelihood of pets being released by their owners.

Not surprisingly, pets that were cheap and that were imported in high quantities were more likely to be released.

But pets that grew to a large size at maturity were also more likely to be set loose.

In Australia's black market, several species of exotic snake tick these boxes, including cobras, boa constrictors and Burmese pythons.

While many are intercepted at our border, plenty are getting through, according to Dr Cassey.

"There's some that outgrow their cages...like the boa constrictors and the pythons and every now and then a really nasty viper turns up as well, which is a surprise," he said.

Dr Christy said it's the fast-growing snakes that can become too much for their owners, that are potentially problematic.

"We're concerned about the big snakes like the boas and the Burmese pythons in the illegal trade," she said.

What makes a good pest?

To establish as a pest species in Australia, there are a few hurdles to overcome.

Firstly, the animal or plant needs to get here. Second, it needs to be released into the wild in suitable habitat.

And finally the individual either needs to be pregnant, or be able to find a mate, and build up a viable population.

Most potential pests succumb in these early stages. For instance, a boa constrictor found on the Gold Coast in 2015, is likely to have died before it could find another boa constrictor mate.

Releasing a breeding pair of animals is likely to greatly increase the chances that they can establish.

If an animal can build up a viable breeding population, the enemy release hypothesis — where a species is no longer kept in check by its natural predators — kicks into gear, and any chance of stopping their advance fades.

Fecundity — the ability to produce lots of offspring, and the ability to thrive in a range of habitats, are both attributes that increase an animal's chance of being a successful invader.

In the illegal trade, getting to Australia presents an obstacle that restricts most of our illegal imports to reptiles.

Unlike mammals and larger-bodied animals, reptiles can survive long periods without food and water and when cooled down enter a state of torpor, making them easy to transport, according to Dr Michelle Christy from the Centre for Invasive Species Solutions.

"Reptiles are definitely the group to watch in terms of the illegal trade," she said.

"We had an example of a brown tree snake, that went from Guam to Texas and it was alive at the other end after three months."

'Only a matter of time' before serious pest establishes

The Federal Register of Legislation lists exotic animals that can be kept as pets in Australia, including numerous fish and bird species, and mammals like camels, goats, ferrets, alpaca and guinea pigs.

Although it is supposed to exclude animals that would pose a significant risk of establishing in the wild, some experts have called into question certain animals' legal status.

Indian ringneck parrots, also known as rose-ringed parakeets, are one of the most commonly kept exotic bird species in Australia, and are frequently reported to have escaped.

Several local control measures have been needed to put down fledgling wild populations, and the birds were found to pose an extreme threat of establishing in Western Australia by the Department of Agriculture and Food.

Similarly, while the Queensland Government estimates around 150,000 ferrets are legally kept as pets in Australia, the Queensland and Northern Territory Governments have banned them because of the potential for them to establish.

Since their introduction in the 1800s, ferrets, along with weasels and stoats, have decimated ground-dwelling birds like the kakapo parrot in New Zealand.

Recently established pests in Australia include the smooth newt discovered in Melbourne in 2011, the red fire ant in 2001, and the yellow crazy ant in the 1990s.

But the fact that other invasive species like the Burmese python or Indian ringneck haven't established here in recent years is largely down to luck, according to Dr Cassey.

"It's just a matter of time. The more people are keeping these [exotic animals] the more likely it is they'll show up in the wild," he said

Like the ferret in New Zealand, at least 1,000 mongooses were introduced to Australia in the 1800s and 1900s to try to control rabbits.

A recent paper found that the likely reason they failed to get a foothold here was that they were introduced to arid areas which were unfavourable mongoose habitat.

Had they been released in favourable habitat, no doubt many more native Australian animals would have succumbed to the "fourth worst invasive mammal in the world", according to the Global Invasive Species Database.

No doubt many of the other exotic pets that have escaped or been released have failed to establish for the same reason.

A Burmese python released in Melbourne or Adelaide may have a slim chance at survival.

But if a breeding pair or pregnant female finds its way to one of our significant wetlands like those along the Murray River or Kakadu, by the time we notice our native species disappearing it may be too late.

By: abc.net.au

Nick Tsagaris - US Open: Novak Djokovic Overcomes Nausea And The Heat To Reach The Second Round At Flushing Meadows

Novak Djokovic has overcome nausea in New York's hot conditions to advance to the second round of the US Open at Flushing Meadows.

Djokovic — who is seen as one of the favourites for this year's tournament — beat Hungary's Marton Fucsovics 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-0 in punishing temperatures that prompted officials to observe a heat rule for men's singles matches for the first time.

The players took a 10-minute break between the third and fourth sets to help them cope with temperatures climbing above 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32.2 degrees Celsius).

The pair, who were not allowed to speak to their coaches during the break, spent the downtime side-by-side, "naked in the ice baths", Djokovic said in a post-match broadcast interview.

"It was quite a magnificent feeling, I must say," he added.

After claiming the first set, a visibly exhausted Djokovic smashed his racket as Fucsovics led 3-2 in the second.

In between the action, both players draped themselves in ice towels and at one point Djokovic sat shirtless in his seat. He also asked for a sick bucket to be placed near his chair.

The Serb came roaring back in the third set, however, clawing his way from 3-1 down before sweeping Fucsovics in the fourth.

"I had to find a way to dig myself out of the trouble," Djokovic said.

"I think that was a turning point. 4-3 in the third when he was serving, I managed to play a good game."

Djokovic was back at the US Open for the first time since 2016 after claiming his fourth Wimbledon title this year and completing a sweep of Masters series events.

"I was praying that I got to feel better because I wasn't feeling great for most of the first three sets," said sixth seed Djokovic.

"I want to thank the US Open for allowing us to have a 10-minute break after the third set. We both needed it."

Djokovic missed the US Open last year because of an elbow injury and was playing his first match in Flushing Meadows since losing the 2016 final to Stan Wawrinka.

Federer breezes through to second round

Roger Federer made light of energy-sapping conditions to brush past Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 in his opening match at the US Open.

Federer kept his time on court to a minimum with a masterclass of serve-and-volley tennis, pulling the industrious world number 177 from one side of the court to the other at will.

Federer, the second seed, broke the Japanese lefthander in the opening game of the one-sided encounter and never looked back, rattling through his service games with a minimum of fuss to wrap up the first set in 28 minutes.

The Swiss took 35 minutes to close out the second and, with Nishioka firmly on the ropes, started the third by racing to a 4-0 lead before his Japanese opponent held serve.

Nishioka rallied briefly at the end, denying Federer the chance to serve out the set and battling back to 5-4 with his first break of serve.

But Federer put his beleaguered opponent out of his misery in his next service game, wrapping up the victory in one hour and 52 minutes.

Next up for the Swiss is a second-round clash with unseeded Frenchman Benoit Paire.

In other men's matches, German fourth seed Alexander Zverev swept through his opening round encounter, beating Canada's Peter Polansky 6-2, 6-1, 6-2 in a little over an hour and a half.

Seventh seed Marin Cilic was a beneficiary of a retirement, as Romania's Marius Copil quit in the third set of their match when down 7-5, 6-1, 1-1.

Diego Schwartzman (13th seed) won an all-Argentinian first round match, defeating Federico Delbonis 6-2, 7-6 (8-6), 6-2, while Italy's Fabio Fognini came from a set down to beat American Michael Mmoh 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4).

By: abc.net.au