Rafa Nadal reveals real reason for swipe at Nick Kyrgios
It wasn’t the underarm serve and it wasn’t because he felt personally disrespected.
Rafael Nadal says he took aim at Nick Kyrgios because he doesn’t think he’s setting a good example for younger players.
Nadal insisted on Wednesday that he has immense respect for Kyrgios’s talent, and his public scolding of the mercurial Aussie after their stormy Acapulco clash doesn’t change that.
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Kyrgios survived three match points to beat top-seeded Nadal in three sets to reach the quarter-finals in Acapulco, where he went on to win his first ATP title in more than a year.
Immediately after the match, 17-time Grand Slam champion Nadal said that Kyrgios — who complained of illness, served underarm and taunted a pro-Nadal crowd on the way to victory — “lacks respect for the public, the opponent and for himself.”
Nadal told reporters at the Indian Wells Masters that he thought his comments may have suffered in translation, but his assessment of Kyrgios hadn’t really changed.
“I never said nothing too negative about Nick, even if he took it more personally,” Nadal said, adding that his comments had nothing to do with the underarm serve, which didn’t make him feel disrespected at all.
“I understand this part of the game and I think it’s a good show for the game, but there’s other stuff in my opinion he can do better,” Nadal said, adding that he feared Kyrgios’s attitude sets a bad example for younger players.
“Everybody is free to do whatever they want, but at end of the day, in my opinion, he has an impact on the new generations,” Nadal said.
“He’s young, he’s a famous player and in my opinion we need to show good values for the kids.”
Kyrgios, who jumped 39 places in the rankings to 33 in the world, said last week he wasn’t interested in Nadal’s opinion.
“I heard that he took it very personally. I really didn’t see it but somebody told me he put some stuff on his social networks,” said Nadal, the second seed in an Indian Wells field headed by world number one Novak Djokovic.
with AFP