TENNIS
Kyrgios: “I hated Nadal!”
In an interview for the ‘Nothing Major’ podcast the Australian reviewed his relationship with the Spanish tennis star. “I was always motivated to play against him.”
Nick Kyrgios made more headlines during his time on the podcast ‘Nothing Majors’, in which he chatted with former tennis players John Isner, Steve Johnson, Sam Querrey and Jack Sock. In addition to attacking Jannik Sinner once again, the Australian also analysed his relationship with another of his great rivals on the circuit: Rafa Nadal.
Kyrgios explains his hatred of Rafa Nadal
Kyrgios admitted that he hated Nadal but at the same time he also said that playing against him motivated him more than when he faced Federer or Djokovic.
“I couldn’t stand Nadal. I hated him and despised him a lot when I saw him around. But he was a guy who always motivated me. When I played against him I tried hard and tried to play the best tennis possible. I didn’t feel that anger towards Federer or Djokovic when I played against them.”
The Australian saw Nadal as his nemesis and for that reason he wanted to show the public that he could beat him with the opposite characteristics to Nadal. “When I played with Rafa, everyone surrendered to him, they pointed out that he was a hard worker and other things while I thought: ‘I can’t stand him’. I wanted to show people that you can have fun, be calm and beat other tennis players that way.”
Kyrgios, who has paid tribute to Nadal after his retirement from the Davis Cup, has said that the Spaniard was a one-off, a unique tennis player, the likes of which we may never see again.
“Nadal had a spectacular career, I don’t think we’ll ever see someone as dominant as him on clay again, I don’t think that’s possible,” he concluded.