Kyrgios has made an explosive exit from the Masters 1000 event in Miami, clashing with the chair umpire before succumbing in the fourth round to Croatian Borna Coric.
Both players received code violations for racquet abuse as Coric recovered from a set down to advance to the quarter-finals with a 4-6 6-3 6-2 win.
But the Croatian's victory was overshadowed by Kyrgios's antics.
The temperamental Australian approached the chair umpire to sarcastically congratulate his controlling of the match after being docked a point penalty while down game point serving at 2-4 in the deciding set.
Having already been warned for his behaviour, Kyrgios was sanctioned for saying "fuck you man" to a spectator in the stands.
With the match all but lost, Kyrgios attempted to shake the official's hand at the ensuing changeover before continuing to berate the umpire during the sit-down.
"Really good job. Well done," he said. "You've controlled the environment really, really well."
Kyrgios's earlier complaints about crowd disturbances had fallen on deaf ears.
Coric, the tournament's 11th seed, next plays Canadian teenager Felix Auger-Aliassime for a place in the semi-finals.
Auger-Aliassime is the first qualifier to reach the quarter-finals in 12 years after taking out 17th seed Nikoloz Basilashvili 7-6 (7-4) 6-4.
Defending champion John Isner also advanced with a 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-3) win over Brit Kyle Edmund.
Borna Coric (L) maintained his discipline to beat Nick Kyrgios (R) at the Miami Open. (Getty) Source: Getty
UNDERARM DEBATE RAGES
Having annoyed Rafa Nadal with an underarm serve at Acapulco, Kyrgios doubled down with the tactic to win two points in his previous match against Serb Dusan Lajovic and fire up a timeworn debate between modern fans and purists.
But in dinking the ball over the net with a sneaky under-arm swing, Kyrgios was operating completely within the laws of the game, if not quite the “spirit”, as Nadal and others might have complained.
For a self-described lazy trainer, the 23-year-old has clearly put some time into honing the tactic since his effort against former world number one Nadal floated well beyond the service box.
The first attempt at 3-1 in the first set against unseeded Lajovic might have been regarded as text-book execution if there existed such a consensus.
With Lajovic standing well behind the baseline, Kyrgios leant over the ball, bounced it a few times and without looking up, flicked it just over the net.
It landed with enough slice to bounce twice for an ace and seal the game, leaving a flat-footed Lajovic no chance to reply.
More casually struck, Kyrgios’s second effort lacked something in execution, allowing Lajovic to swoop in and easily make the retrieve.
But the Australian was ready for the Serb’s drop-shot return and flicked it past him to close out the first set.
British tennis luminary Judy Murray, the mother of Andy Murray, was thrilled in the tactic.
“The whole point of tennis competition is to disrupt (yo)ur opponents game by applying pressure through changing the speed, spin, direction, depth or height of the ball,” the former Fed Cup captain and mother of Andy Murray tweeted.
“And that includes the serve. Kyrgios is a genius. I’m surprised more players don’t do it.”
