According to Nick Kyrgios, he used to “hate and despise” the 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal, and had more ‘anger towards him than towards other tennis legends such as Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.
Overall, Kyrgios and Nadal faced off nine times, and Nadal won six of those encounters. The 14-time Roland Garros champion also had a 2-1 record against Kyrgios in Slam matchups.
In 2022, both athletes were scheduled to meet for the tenth time in the Wimbledon semifinals, but Nadal had to retire due to an abdominal injury, and it opened the door for Kyrgios to win his first major championship. Though he lost to Djokovic in the final, the Australian claimed that Rafael Nadal was his motivation in an interview with the Nothing Major podcast.
Kyrgios admitted: “I couldn’t stand him… I used to hate and despise him so much when I saw him walking around. He was one guy who always motivated me… If I played him I would get up for it and try and get the best tennis I could possibly play. I didn’t feel that anger towards Federer or Novak when I played them.”
He added: “If I played Rafa, because everyone in our academies back home idolised him, they were like: ‘he is such a hard worker, he’s this and that.’… I was like ‘I can’t stand this guy’. I wanted to show people you could just have fun and be chilled and beat people like that.”
At the Davis Cup in November, Nadal made his farewell appearance as Spain lost to the Netherlands at the first hurdle. He ended an impressive career that included 92 ATP-level victories.
Meanwhile, Kyrgios will finally return to Grand Slam competition at the Australian Open in January.
Source: Eurosport