Kyrgios keeps the 'bad boy' tradition alive

Nick Kyrgios has lived up to his reputation as one of the bad boys of tennis at Wimbledon but he is just the latest in a long line of controversial characters on the court.

The Australian has made waves at the All England Club this year with his antics, including spitting in the direction of fans and calling for third-round opponent Stefanos Tsitsipas to be disqualified.

AFP Sport takes a look at other players who have ruffled the feathers of the establishment.

John McEnroe

Nicknamed "Superbrat" by the British press, McEnroe is the poster boy for bad behavior on court, defined as much for his emotional outbursts as his dazzling play.

The American seven-time Grand Slam champion, who is now a TV commentator, became famous for his "You cannot be serious" plea to umpires when challenging their decisions.

One of his most notorious tantrums came at the Australian Open in 1990.

Facing Sweden's Mikael Pernfors, he was warned for intimidating a line judge and docked a point for smashing a racket before being defaulted for swearing.

Jeff Tarango

Tarango, who was never ranked higher than 42 in the world, was more renowned for his outrageous behavior than his tennis.

At Wimbledon in 1995, Tarango argued repeatedly with chair umpire Bruno Rebeuh during a third-round match.

Rebeuh issued him with a code violation for telling spectators to "shut up", claiming it was an audible obscenity.

Tarango accused Rebeuh of being "corrupt" and refused to play on until the supervisor was called.

He was eventually defaulted but the drama was to continue when Tarango's wife slapped Rebeuh in the face.

Ilie Nastase

Flamboyant former world No 1 Ilie "Nasty" Nastase was repeatedly punished for bad behavior during his controversial career.

The Romanian even featured in a 1972 Sports Illustrated article headlined "Bad is Beautiful".

At Wimbledon in 1977, in his quarterfinal against Bjorn Borg, he rounded on umpire Jeremy Shales for referring to him as "Nastase", saying: "You don't call me 'Nastase' you call me 'Mr Nastase'."

Two years later at the US Open, a match between Nastase and a young McEnroe descended into chaos.

The umpire disqualified the unruly Romanian for his antics, which included flicking a net-cord judge's hat and taking too much time between points.

Officials took the extraordinary step of resuming the match after the crowd went berserk, throwing objects onto the court, but McEnroe went on to win in four sets.

Jimmy Connors

Eight-time Grand Slam winner Connors made a name for himself as a brash, aggressive player.

The ultra-competitive American, who won a record 109 titles on the men's tour, often argued with umpires and displayed bad behavior on the court.

In 1977, he refused to take part in a parade of former champions to mark Wimbledon's centenary and was booed when he went out to play the following day.

The five-time champion enjoyed an astonishing run to the semifinals at the 1991 US Open as a 38-year-old.

But the old fire was still there and Connors unleashed a tirade at umpire David Littlefield, calling him "an abortion" during a match against Aaron Krickstein.

Daniel Koellerer

Austrian player Koellerer flies under the radar compared with some of his more illustrious counterparts but his career was dogged by problems.

Koellerer, who rose to a career-high ranking of 55, lost his appeal in 2012 against a lifetime ban for attempted match-fixing.

He had been found guilty the previous year by the Tennis Integrity Unit of violating the anti-corruption program.

It was the latest in a string of incidents in a colorful career.

Fellow Austrian Stefan Koubek was disqualified from a match against Koellerer in 2010 for grabbing him by the throat after claiming he had been insulted by his compatriot.