Rafael Nadal and Nick Kyrgios have met nine times on Tour. The Spaniard leads 6-3, and they’ve had some exciting battles that went all the way, like their most recent duel in Indian Wells. It took the Spaniard nine and a half hours to beat the Australian in the last three meetings, and Nick did his best to keep his cool during those meetings and keep his character below the surface.
That was not the case during their sixth meeting at Acapulco 2019. Kyrgios fended off three match points in a 3-6 7-6 7-6 triumph over Nadal in three hours and three minutes. Arriving in Acapulco with knee problems and only five games on his account in 2019, Nick found an extra gear to add two wins and reach the quarterfinals.
Rafa had the match in his hands twice, but missed his chances and suffered an early loss. Leading 6-3 4-4, Nadal squandered four break chances that could have brought him closer to the finish. The Spaniard squandered no fewer than five break points at 3-2 in the decider.
Additionally, he failed to convert three match points at 6-3 in the tie break, letting the last five points slip away to propel Nick into the Round of 16. Rafa didn’t like Nick’s behavior, his underarm serve, and the fact that he spent almost no time between serves, leaving him unprepared for returns.
The crowd booed the Australian after the last point, and the handshake between the players was anything but friendly. Rafa had 39 winners and 17 unforced errors while Kyrgios went 58-49, firing bullets from his serve and forehand to keep the points on his racket.
Nadal lost just four points on serve in the opening set and brought it home with a break in game six after a poor volley from Nick. Four winners at 5-3 were enough for Nadal to take the lead after 34 minutes. Fighting for every point, the Aussie fired four winners to repel break chances at 4-4 in the second set and stay in the match.
Rafa is training in Spain
In his autobiography, Rafael Nadal: My Story, the former World Number 1, has revealed that his uncle never received any paychecks from him for his coaching services. Talking about this, he said, “One thing would not have happened without the other.
Toni has never received any money from me or from anyone in the family for the lifelong attention he’s dedicated to me, but he’s been able to do it because he owns half of my father’s business, and takes half the profits, without doing any of the work”.
Further, he went on to add, “It’s been a fair exchange because I would never have had anything like the same hours of coaching from Toni if my father had not worked with such purpose all his life”.
