Two-time Wimbledon champion Rafael Nadal defeated Australian Nick Kyrgios in a four set memorable contest at the Centre Court on Thursday.
The Spaniard outclassed Kyrgios 6-3 3-6 7-6(5) 7-6(3) in the second round, which made for an electrifying match in the opening week of the grand slam tournament for an enthralled crowd at Centre Crowd.
Nadal jumped and yelled to his camp after sealing the match against Kyrgios, whom he had earlier accused of lacking respect for the sport.
The 43rd-ranked Australian blasted a 143mph (230kph) second serve-ace―the fastest serve of any sort during the tournament so far and the second-fastest second serve in ATP history. Then he served an under-arm ace, and was called out by the umpire for unsportsmanlike behaviour.
Kyrgios's running argument with the umpire while twice serving under-arm earned him a warning. “You're no-one. You think you're important. You have no idea what's going on. You're a disgrace,” Kyrgios said to the umpire.
After the match, Nadal said that Kyrgios is a potential grand slam winner. “When he wants to compete, he's one of the toughest opponents you can face. It's amazing how good he is able to play, so if he is able to forget all these things, he's potentially a Grand Slam winner. He has a lot of good ingredients to become a champion but, of course, there remains an important one sometimes, and that is the love, the passion for this game.” In 2014, Kyrgios had stunned Nadal at Wimbledon.
(With inputs from agencies)
