World number two Rafael Nadal says Nick Kyrgios does not show respect to his opponents, the crowd and himself. Rafael Nadal made these harsh comments against the Australian after Nick Kyrgios made an under arm serve against the Spaniard at the 2019 Mexican Open.
Nick Kyrgios defeated Rafael Nadal in a three-set thriller at the Acapulco Princess Mundo Imperial. It included two sets being decided by tiebreakers and Nick Kyrgios won both the sets. The final scoreline 3-6, 7-6, 7-6 in Nick Kyrgios' favour.
The former world number one said on Thursday, February 28, that tennis stars like Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic may not prefer to face Nick Kyrgios. Rafael Nadal once again reiterated that his last opponent has enormous talent, but stressed that he should more respect towards the game in general.
"He's a player who has enormous talent, could be winning Grand Slams or fighting for the No. 1 ranking. He lacks respect for the crowd, his opponent and towards himself," said Rafael Nadal, as reported by Tennis World USA.
"I don't think he's a bad guy, but he lacks a little respect for the public and the rival. I don't think he's a bad guy, but he lacks a little respect for the public and the rival."
Nick Kyrgios was not having any of the comments made by Rafael Nadal towards him. He even criticised the 17-time Grand Slam champion and said he is one of the slowest players between the points. It looks the war of words may continue between the two if either of them does not decide to back down anytime soon.
"I'm different. Rafa's different. He can focus on what he needs to do. He doesn't know the journey I've been through. He doesn't know anything about me so I'm not going to listen at all," said Kyrgios, as reported by the Guardian.
"It's the way I play. It's the way he plays - he's very slow between points and I think that the rule in the book is that you have to play to the speed of the server but Rafa has the speed every time. I'm not going to comment on him, his game. I've got my game; he's got his own game. We played well - that's the sport. People are different - I'm not going to take that into consideration at all," he went on to add.
