BEST OF ENEMIES
Peace breaks out as Rafa beats rival Kyrgios
NICK KYRGIoS versus Rafael Nadal was all about emotion but the great Spaniard’s verdict on his opponent afterwards almost sounded like some kind of school report.
‘When he’s playing like today with this positive attitude, he gives a lot of positive things to our sport,’ said the world No1.
‘I encourage him to keep working like this because he’s one of the highest talents we have on our tour and I like the Nick Kyrgios of this tournament.’
the disruptive pupil of the fourth form had just given Nadal a proper exam at the Australian open, having walked on to court with tears in his eyes, wearing an LA Lakers vest in honour of Kobe Bryant.
What followed was the pulsating contest that many had been expecting but it ended with the same scoreline as at Wimbledon last summer.
Nadal is now preparing for the quarter-finals courtesy of a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6, 7-6 fourth-round victory.
that does not sound like much progress for Kyrgios, but in truth, he has changed the narrative around him in the past few weeks.
Nadal stated that he has the talent to be among the world’s best players. ‘I appreciate it but I already know that,’ responded Kyrgios. ‘I’ve known that for the last four years. But the trouble for me is being able to actually just produce the same attitude over and over again.
‘I feel like I’ve made progress as a human. As a tennis player, I don’t care about that as much.’
this has been no ordinary month, the 24-year-old Australian being a first responder to victims of the bushfires with his fundraising efforts.
Yesterday, he was grieving more than most over the tragedy involving a hero from his favourite sport, even though he never met him.
‘Basketball is practically my life, I watch it every day,’ he said. ‘If anything, Kobe Bryant’s death motivated me.
‘If you look at the things he stood for, what he wanted to be remembered by, I felt, if anything, it helped me tonight.
When I was down a break in the fourth, I was definitely thinking about it. I fought back.’
As he acknowledged, the question around Kyrgios will be how he can apply himself when spending long, often repetitive weeks on the road, when things go against him.
He has been feeding off the sudden upswing in affection from his home public, but in February he is off to play some fairly anonymous AtP tour events in North America.
He was notably respectful of Nadal at the net, in contrast to his refusal to pay lip service to his rival in the past after their often close matches.
But mutual fandom has not broken out. Nadal was nothing if not consistent in his views, adding later: ‘I don’t change my mind. He’s one of those players who can be very interesting for the crowd.
‘I am never against his style of play. When I criticised him in the past it was because I think he did a couple of things that are not the right image for our sport and for the kids. But when he’s doing the right things, I am the first one to support this.’
Nadal will now face Dominic thiem in a quarter-final line-up filled with largely familiar faces.
the biggest surprise was Stan Wawrinka, who is nearly 35, overcoming No 4 seed Daniil Medvedev, 23, supposedly the toughest and most threatening of the coming generation.