RAFA RISES ABOVE THE RAGING TIDE
Rafael Nadal played the straight man while Nick Kyrgios was part Harlem Globetrotter, part angry young man and part shotmaker supreme.
Centre Court had not seen a psychodrama like it in a very long time and, at the end, it was the straight man who survived this very personal encounter, through to Wimbledon’s third round.
By the time he had reversed an abysmal tiebreak record against the australian to win 6-3, 3-6, 7-6, 7-6, the old arena had been treated to the full repertoire of tennis’s most mercurial performer.
Kyrgios had served underarm, hit a 143mph second-serve ace, abused the umpire, given up on a few points, drilled his opponent in the chest at the net and been officially warned. He had hit some incredible winners with that gloriously loose arm of his. There was even a sneezing fit.
It is easy to see why certain parallels are made with George Best, and not just because he prepared for this match the night before with a few beers, unashamedly, up in the dog and fox public house.
everybody can see that Kyrgios has talent to burn, but the truth is it still flickers too infrequently to bear much comparison with sporting geniuses. Given he had won all five previous tiebreaks against Nadal he will know, upon sober reflection, that this was one that got away.
few who walked away from Centre Court last night will have been talking about Nadal. Yet this was a brilliantly resolute performance against a more natural grass-court player, who hammered down 29 aces.
The Spaniard has never looked as fired up as this for any second-round encounter and rode the emotional waves of a match against an opponent he does not like — and believes lacks respect for other professionals.
Once he had finished his celebrations — which included an uncharacteristic wagging of one finger — he classily waited for his opponent to walk off with him. deep down, he is probably as bemused by Kyrgios as the rest of us.
What can be laid to rest is the nonsense that the aussie is somehow bad for the game. Nothing in sport can be bad when you dare not take your eyes off it, and that was the case for the three hours and four minutes. He is no pound shop Mcenroe.
Nadal walked straight off court straight into a measured interview with the BBC. Kyrgios came immediately to do his media duties, which turned into the usual fare as he addressed his contradictions.
He declined to apologise for hitting his opponent at the net and called the umpire horrendous, but also intelligently pointed out that the key to victory was Nadal cleverly serving to his weaker forehand side. a genuine, if exaggerated, gripe was the amount of time Nadal took between the points. Wimbledon still holds out against a shot clock, unlike elsewhere.
‘Why do I have to wait for him to get into his rhythm every time?’ asked the australian. ‘I got angry at the ref. He’s like: “No, I’ll tell him what I want to tell him”. a little bit of a power trip there. He obviously feels pretty important sitting up in the chair.’
More profoundly, he knocked down Nadal’s generous assertion that he could be winning Grand Slams. ‘I know what I’m capable of, said Kyrgios. ‘I’m a great tennis player, but I don’t do the other stuff. I’m not the most professional guy. at the moment I don’t think I can contend for a Grand Slam.
‘I haven’t put in enough hours. I probably haven’t trained enough, don’t have a coach. I haven’t been doing enough gym.’
He looked to be tiring a bit at the end and, before that, had nearly lost control altogether at 4-3 in the second.
Nadal admitted the rants during the changeovers were unnerving.
‘I was aware of everything,’ said the Spaniard. ‘I was next to him. I lost a bit of concentration. Sometimes it’s tough to see a couple of these things on the court.
‘Without really loving this game that much, it is difficult to achieve important things.’
He also criticised drilling at the net: ‘When he hit the ball like this, it’s dangerous. It’s not dangerous for me, it’s dangerous for a line referee, dangerous for a crowd.’
Kyrgios’s psychological warfare, both with himself and Nadal, had set in after a timid opener. a tracer missile of a forehand got the aussie a break to start the second and he was suddenly energised.
a second successful underarm serve was booed, which was strange as the rules which permit them had not changed. They are a rare sight, but he has begun to use them this year — and others have followed — to wrong-foot receivers
standing too far back. In the second set Kyrgios told chair umpire Damien Dumusois: ‘You’re a disgrace. You’re a joke. Bro, you’re nobody in the scheme of things. You’re not important.’
You have to have sympathy with Dumusois, having to decide whether to engage or not. A solution might be to put more female umpires on Kyrgios matches, who he may find harder to abuse.
The third and fourth sets were desperately tight with no breaks, but it was Nadal who was more clinical when it mattered.
Kyrgios had looked the better player aside from his lethargic first set, but he ended up the flamboyant loser and it is Nadal who now faces Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.