Rafael Nadal condemns Nick Kyrgios’ actions and calls the body shot a ‘dangerous play’ not just for him but for the umpire and the crowd.
Nick Kyrgios went against the convention and refused to apologize for his vicious forehand that hit Nadal on the chest. He even admitted in the press conference that he had purposely tried to target the Spaniard’s body.
Rafael Nadal and Nick Kygrios were locked in a fierce all-in battle in the second round of the Wimbledon 2019. During the match, Kyrgios hit Nadal on the chest when Nadal decided to come ahead for a cheeky point in the third set. Nadal looked toward his opponent to see a hand or some sort of apology, however, he didn’t get any. Some say that Nadal even cursed at the Australian in anger.
The third-seeded player denied cursing Nick but in the following post-match presser, he condemned Nick’s antics. He said that there was danger looming with each of Nick’s shots and even though it didn’t hit anyone else, there was a big chance that one of them would have.
“I don’t say Nick does this stuff to bother the opponent, but is true that sometimes he’s dangerous, When he hit the ball like this, is dangerous. It is not dangerous for me, it is dangerous for a line referee, dangerous for a crowd. 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.”
The Spaniard mentioned that the line umpire and the ball children were in danger due to these shots.
“This time the ball went in, almost hit me, no problem. I am professional, so I know how to avoid this. But another one, the ball goes straight to the back. So have been dangerous moment for the line umpire, that ball hits an eye or something like this, it is a problem.”
Kyrgios also addressed his antics from the match but stood his ground when asked to apologize.
“Why would I apologise? I didn’t hit him. Hit his racquet, no? Why would I apologise? I won the point.”, Nick said.
Nick added that he didn’t care for conventions and traditions, winning is what matters to him.
“I don’t care. Why would I apologise? I mean, the dude has got how many slams, how much money in the bank account? I think he can take a ball to the chest, bro. I’m not going to apologise to him at all. I was going for him. Yeah, I wanted to hit him square in the chest. Like, he’s got decent hands.”
“No. I meant that”, Nick Kyrgios stands by his actions, and refuses to offer any apology to Nadal, even today.
Nick Kyrgios has yet to offer an apology for the incident. Last year, he had a chance to make amends with the Spaniard by offering him an apology, but he denied it. He even reinforced the idea that he did it on purpose.
In a Twitter thread discussing Kyrgios’ spat with Stefanos Tsitsipas, a fan queried Nick about his infamous Wimbledon 2019 incident with Nadal. To which, he responded to a fan saying that he meant to hit Nadal with that shot.
“No. I meant that.”
No. I meant that.
— Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) June 24, 2023
