NEW YORK -- Nick Kyrgios' stormy US Open has ended with a relatively mild insult to a line judge as a "whistleblower'' and a beating at the hands of Andrey Rublev 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5), 6-3 on Saturday night.
Rublev moved into the fourth round at Flushing Meadows after overcoming 30 aces and crafty shotmaking from Kyrgios while neutralizing the fiery Australian from the baseline. The 43rd-ranked Russian was just too consistent, controlling most of the extended rallies and committing just 14 unforced errors to Kyrgios' 38.
Notably, Kyrgios was on his best behavior, by his standards. In the first set, a linesperson reported some bad Kyrgios language to the chair umpire. She asked him about it during the changeover and he looked back over at the linesperson across the court and said, "What I say? ... Whistleblower.''
Kyrgios was recently slapped with a record $113,000 fine for boorish behavior at a tuneup tournament and became the focus on an ATP "major offense'' probe this week for saying in a postmatch news conference that the men's tennis tour is "corrupt.'' He is still awaiting punishment.
On Sunday, Kyrgios pulled out of the men's doubles, citing a right elbow injury. He had been due to partner Marius Copil of Romania in the third round against 16th seeds Olvier Marach and Jurgen Melzer of Austria.
Rublev, meanwhile, moves on to play Matteo Berrettini in the men's singles round of 16.
Gael Monfils is taking his dazzling shotmaking into the fourth round after outlasting Denis Shapovalov 6-7 (5), 7-6 (4), 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-3 in the other night match on Saturday.
Monfils, the No. 13 seed, matched the 33rd-ranked Canadian shot for shot in a contest that was all about big shots, high risks and high rewards. Shapovalov, for example, blasted 75 winners but also had 64 unforced errors. Monfils squandered a match point in the fourth-set tiebreaker but held on with a crucial service break in the deciding set to win it.
In the postmatch news conference, even Shapovalov said he couldn't help but be impressed with Monfils' shots, saying he came up with the tennis equivalent of a "lot of flashy dunks.''
Monfils moves on to play Pablo Andujar in the round of 16.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.