Nick Kyrgios spoke about his feelings towards Rafael Nadal during the early years of his career and how they changed leading up to the retirement of the 22-time Grand Slam champion. The Australian had several tense matches against Rafa in a rivalry that always sparked fireworks.
One particularly memorable moment was Kyrgios’ breakthrough at Wimbledon 2014. Already showcasing his remarkable talent, Kyrgios had received a wildcard from the organisers. He stunned the 13th seed Richard Gasquet in the second round and caused an even bigger shock in the fourth round when he defeated World No. 2 Rafael Nadal (7-6, 6-7, 7-6, 6-3) to advance to the quarterfinals.
It was an incredibly tense encounter where Nadal appeared frustrated by Kyrgios’ underarm serves and unorthodox game style, which posed a significant challenge to the Spaniard. In their nine total encounters, Nadal leads 6-3, a record that few players can boast against the former World No. 1.
In a recent appearance on the Nothing Major Podcast, the former World No. 13 revealed why he always brought his best when playing Nadal. “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,” Kyrgios admitted.
“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 Roger 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, be chilled, and still beat people like that.”
