Things might not have been “pretty damn cool” over the last couple of years between Rafael Nadal and Nick Kyrgios but the Aussie reckons playing his Spaniard opponent for a place in the quarterfinal of the Australian Open is exactly that.
Kyrgios and Nadal have been involved in a long-standing verbal battle off the court to go with their brilliance on it but it looks like both players have decided to cool things off for a while in the lead-up to their fourth round match. Kyrgios, one of the most outspoken players on the circuit, said he didn’t dislike Nadal and called him “hell of a tennis player”.
Nadal has often questioned Kyrgios for his lack of respect after a string of incidents in matches between them while the Aussie had termed his Spanish opponent as “super salty” and different from him.
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Now, while talking to the media, Kyrgios admitted he did not know too much about Nadal as a person but called him a top tennis player. He said:
“I don’t really dislike him. I don’t know him at all. Hell of a tennis player. Don’t know him as a person, I am sure he’s okay.”
Kyrgios also said he was super excited to take on Nadal “on the centre court of his own Slam”, and called it out to be a physical battle. He pointed out Nadal has had easy wins so far which should help the Spaniard while the Aussie had to go through a long, five-setter that went to the final set tie-breaker.
Having needed five sets to overcome Karen Khachanov in the third round, Kyrgios will now have to battle past the Spaniard, whom he has beaten thrice in his career so far. Nadal has won four of their matches including the last time they played at the 2019 Wimbledon.
Nadal was earlier asked about Kyrgios and he had said the Aussie was a good advertisement for the ATP tour when he plays well and shows the kind of passion he has in recent times. He added there were times Kyrgios did things which in his opinion weren’t good.
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