Nick Kyrgios did not seem to be trying very hard Thursday afternoon in his second-round match at the United States Open. He was barely lunging for serves from his opponent, Pierre-Hugues Herbert. He moped around the court between games with a towel clenched between his teeth. He looked as if he would have preferred being anywhere other than Court 17.
Then, during a changeover early in the second set, something curious happened.
The chair umpire, Mohamed Lahyani, hopped down from his perch and offered Kyrgios what appeared to be a pep talk, imploring him to give more of an honest effort.