Nick Kyrgios must take on board a mental coach to help him curb his behaviour or face a 16-week ban from the ATP tour.
The 24-year-old was left licking his wounds back home in Australia after the ATP found him guilty of committing the “major offence” of “aggravated behaviour” in Cincinnati last month.
He smashed two rackets after an expletive-laden ongoing feud with umpire Fergus Murphy during his defeat to Karen Kachanov.
He was fined £92,000 at the time but warned the ATP planned to investigate further.
They have now announced that he must accept professional help at all events he participates in for the next six months and during the off season.
Kyrgios had already announced his withdrawal from events in Beijing and Shanghai having aggravated a shoulder injury playing in Zhuhai.
He was also handed a suspended fine of £20,000 which will kick in along with that ban if he is guilty of verbal or physical abuse of officials, spectators or any other persons while on-court or on-site, unsportsmanlike conduct such as spitting, directed towards an official, spectator or other person during or upon conclusion of the match, or any visible obscenity directed towards an official.
A six-month probationary period will kick in the Monday after he accepts the conditions of his punishment.
The severity of the punishment is designed to stamp out what the ATP feel is a “pattern of behaviour” from Kyrgios, who has always been a controversial figure around the circuit.
As well as taking on board a mental coach at tournaments he must accept the support from a “professional specialising in behavioural management” during the off season in November and December.
Kyrgios has five days to appeal and a separate charge over comments he made towards the ATP was dropped following clarification from the player.
