FOR the third year in succession, Nick Kyrgios has become the talking point of the Shanghai Masters for all the wrong reasons.

Deposed this week as Australian No 1 by Alex de Minaur, Kyrgios argued with umpire Damien Dumusois after the Frenchman questioned Kyrgios’ effort.

In echoes of the US Open storm created by Mohammed Lahyani’s attempts to inspire Kyrgios, Dumusois told Kyrgios his uninterested approach in the second set was “really borderline.”

During prolonged exchanges between the pair, Kyrgios was heard saying “I don’t care” and then told the umpire: “You have no right to tell me it’s poor.”

After one exchange, Kyrgios served four aces in a row. After one missile scorched past the American, Kyrgios barked: “Was that borderline poor?”

Later Kyrgios said to Dumusois: “You know I literally could just go to the ATP office after this and say I felt put down from your comment and you’d be in trouble, right?

“I could literally just say I couldn’t play after that because I just felt put down. You realise that, right? I’m not going to do it, but I’m just saying.”

Kyrgios lost five games straight from 4-all in the second set.

Lahyani was suspended from his next two scheduled tournaments after trying to encourage Kyrgios during a match at the US Open.

The Swede climbing down from his chair in New York to have a lengthy chat with Kyrgios when he was showing little effort as he trailed by a set and 3-0 down against against Pierre-Hugues Herbert.

Kyrgios ended up winning the match.

Kyrgios has been fined at the Shanghai Open in the past two years

At last year’s tournament, Kyrgios smashed two balls out of court in frustration and stormed off midway through his match with Steve Johnson in the first round.

As a result, he was given $US10,000 for unsportsmanlike conduct.

In 2016, he was booed by the crowd after patting the ball over the net several times during his serves and then walking back to his chair before opponent Mischa Zverev’s serve had landed.

He was subsequently fined $US16,500 for his behaviour in the 6-3 6-1 defeat.