Nick seals a ‘salty’ old tie with foe Rafa

LONG before he set up what should be a pulsating fourth-round clash against Rafa Nadal at the Australian Open, Nick Kyrgios had already commenced hostilities.

During his second-round match on Thursday he mimicked the world No1’s idiosyncratic routines, his fiddling with his underwear, and when word got back to Nadal he was not impressed.

In an almost refreshing shift from the corporate bonhomie that often marks relationships in men’s tennis, the two men do not get along.

That much was evident to anyone who saw their match at Wimbledon last summer, where Nadal won in four sets.

A Kyrgios collectors’ item was that he had spent the evening before in a local hostelry enjoying a few drinks.

That is unlikely to happen this time when they clash on the Australia Day Bank Holiday.

Kyrgios will need all the recovery time he can get after taking four hours and 26 minutes to squeeze past Russia’s Karen Khachanov, clinching a thriller 6-2, 7-6 6-7, 6-7, 7-6 when he nicked the sudden-death tiebreak 10-8.

‘I have never hung out with him,’ said Kyrgios, who has previously accused Nadal of being a ‘salty’ loser.

‘If we don’t like each other there is still a layer of respect. He’s a hell of a tennis player.’

After cruising past his compatriot Pablo Carreno-Busta, Nadal was diplomatic over the prospect of facing up to the Aussie.

‘I don’t know him personally, to have a clear opinion,’ he said.

‘When he plays good tennis and he shows passion for this game, he is a positive player for our tour.’

Kyrgios came through yesterday’s test surprisingly strongly but the toll it will have taken makes Nadal the clear favourite to progress to the last eight.

‘My legs feel like they weigh an extra 40 pounds,’ said Kyrgios after finishing off Khachanov in his longest-ever match.

Meanwhile, Britain’s leading partnership Jamie Murray and Neal Skupski made a disappointing exit from the second round of the doubles when they lost 14-12 in a sudden-death tiebreak to go down 4-6, 7-6, 7-6 to Americans Steve Johnson and Sam Querrey.