Kyrgios, whose mother is a Malaysian, was signed up as the face of the airline in December 2014.
The move was seen at the time as an effort to help boost its image in Australia following the double tragedy of missing flight MH370 and shooting down of MH17 in March and July 2014, respectively, claiming the lives of many Australians, among others.
However, the relationship has been beset with problems as Kyrgios’ conduct on and off the court has been filled with controversy.
On Monday, the ATP cited Kyrgios’ offence as being “Conduct Contrary to the Integrity of the Game”, when they suspended him for eight weeks from its World Tour series.
After being slapped with a US$16,500 (RM69,000) fine for swearing, he was fined an additional US$25,000 for his overall misconduct and lack of effort at the Shanghai Masters which ended on Sunday.
“I know very well that I need to apologise to the fans – in Shanghai and in other parts of the world – as well as the tournament organisers in Shanghai who are doing an amazing job,” Kyrgios, 21, said in a statement on his official site.
Following the end to Kyrgios’ ambassador role, the airline said in a statement that it was now focusing on rebuilding Malaysia Airlines from “the inside out and growing our business as the leading carrier for travel to, from and around Malaysia”.
In October 2015, former MAB boss Christoph Mueller had defended their ambassador in the wake of his growing notoriety.
Mueller had reportedly suggested however, that Kyrgios’ antics had attracted a lot of negative comments on social media, which was not helpful with all the updates on the MH370 search coming out regularly too.
Kyrgios came to prominence when he upset the then World Number One Rafael Nadal to advance to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon in July 2014. However, his Wimbledon fantasy ended with a loss to Milos Raonic, his quarterfinal opponent.
Kyrgios’s mother, Norlaila, was born in Gombak, Selangor and had moved to Canberra more than 30 years ago. She still keeps in touch with her family, most of whom are now in Shah Alam.
His full name, Nick Hilmy Kyrgios, also reflects the ties his mother has continued to keep with her family back home.
“The entire Kyrgios family is very close to my family. I want Malaysians to take pride in Nick’s achievements as Malaysian blood runs through his veins,” Norlaila told The Star in an interview published in July 2014, following his good run at Wimbledon.
On Oct 11 this year, MAB signed up with Premier League side, Liverpool FC, becoming the English football giants global airline partner on a three-year deal.