Nick Kyrgios insisted he had no need to apologise to Rafael Nadal despite blasting the ball at him at one point in their Wimbledon match.
“Why would I apologise? I won the point,” said Kyrgios after his four-set second-round defeat. “I was going for him. I wanted to hit him.
“The dude has got how many Slams, how much money in the bank account? I think he can take a ball to the chest.”
Nadal managed to get his racquet in the way but said the shot was “dangerous”.
“It is not dangerous for me, it is dangerous for a line referee, dangerous for a crowd,” the Spaniard said.
“When you hit the ball like this, you don’t know where the ball goes.
“I know he’s a big talented player, but I am a professional player too. I know when you hit this kind of ball, the ball can go anywhere.”
It was only one flashpoint in a stormy 6-3 3-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-3) win for two-time champion Nadal.
The build-up
The pair met on Centre Court five years ago when a 19-year-old Kyrgios, ranked 144th in the world, pulled off a shock four-set victory over the then world number one.
Before Thursday’s encounter their head-to-head record stood at three wins apiece, with Kyrgios winning a testy encounter in Acapulco in February.
In the wake of that win, the Australian had described Nadal as “super salty” in defeat and admitted earlier in the Championships that the pair would not be sharing a drink any time soon.
Source: BBC
