‘I don’t really care’ – Rafael Nadal refuses to be baited by Nick Kyrgios on-court mocking at Australian Open
Rafael Nadal was in no mood to get himself embroiled in Nick Kyrgios hijinks, despite Australian mocking him in Melbourne.
The two have some bad blood from former encounters and have had something of a long-running feud, including Nadal blasting him what he perceived as ‘disrespect’ when Kyrgios served underarm to him in a match in Acapulco last year.
Kyrgios appeared to attempt to reopen that rivalry by mocking Nadal’s serving routine in his second-round win on Thursday, but Nadal refused to get drawn on the matter when quizzed by journalists.
“I really don’t care. I am here to play tennis. Honestly, I don’t care at all. If was funny, good. That’s it.”
?♂️(?@Eurosport_RU ) pic.twitter.com/s9scAWS5sj
— doublefault28 (@doublefault28) January 23, 2020
Nadal could face Kyrgios in the second week, should both players come through their third round matches.
For Nadal, that means overcoming compatriot Pablo Carreno Busta, and he says he will need to improve to avoid a potential shock exit.
“Well, I think I can do lot of things better,” Nadal claimed after his 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), 6-1 second-round win over Federico Delbonis.
“I can do things better because of myself. I need to play better. Especially I need to convert the breakpoints.
“I was not able to check the statistics, but when you are not able to convert no one breakpoint after I don’t know how many chance, of course you are in trouble.
“I have been practicing a little bit better everyday. Of course, on the match situation, is a little bit different.
“I am confident that I going to play better because every day in the third set I have been able to show a good level of tennis. I need to do it before the next time.”
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