Nick Kyrgios prepares to play against Rafael Nadal in the Wimbledon on Thursday (AP Photo)Nick Kyrgios lost to Rafael Nadal in an intense second round Wimbledon match at Centre Court on Thursday, with plenty of talking points from the match. Nadal eventually won 6-3, 3-6, 7-6, 7-6 and progressed to the third round.
Kyrgios blasted a 143mph (230kph) second serve-ace during the first set. This is the fastest serve of any sort during the tournament so far and the second fastest second serve in ATP history. Kyrgios was angry after losing a challenge on his first serve and then smashed down the unstoppable second serve.
Kyrgios resorted to the opposite extreme only moments later, with a gentle under-arm ace.
Nick Kyrgios aces Nadal with an underarm serve! #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/wKH7N85j9J
— TennisMatrix 🎾 (@Tennis_Matrix) July 4, 2019
Rafael Nadal seemed to be as amused as the crowd at Kyrgios’s underarm serve, picking up the ball with a smile after it. In the Mexican Open earlier this year, Kyrgios performed several underarm serves on way to beating Nadal.
Nadal’s reaction after underarm ace pic.twitter.com/he4n2vJKlX
— doublefault28 (@doublefault28) July 4, 2019
Kyrgios then complained to the umpire that Nadal was taking too much time between his serves, effectively slowing the match down.
“It’s stupid. Nah, don’t talk to me. You’re so biased. These dudes take 40 seconds between every serve. Don’t tell me to play within the rules if he doesn’t play within the rules,” he told the umpire.
A little later, Kyrgios was warned by the umpire for ‘unsportsmanlike conduct’, which led to some words being exchanged between the two.
Kyrgios was seen to have smashed a forehand – maybe deliberately, maybe not – into Nadal’s body. Nadal reacted to this by giving him a long hard look as Kyrgios walked away twirling his racquet.
Nadal took the first set 6-3 in 29 minutes before Kyrgios came into his own and took the second set 6-3. The third set was hotly contested but Nadal prevailed 7-5 in the set tie-break. The fourth set was also taken to the tie-break, but Kyrgios’s game seemed to unravel at the end as Nadal prevailed 7-3 in the tie-break.
THAT is how much this win means to @RafaelNadal!
🎥: @Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/H6A0yNzzCl
— ATP Tour (@ATP_Tour) July 4, 2019
In Wimbledon 2014, an unheralded Kyrgios had beaten Nadal.
