Yesterday's Wimbledon clash between Rafa Nadal and Nick Kyrgios was memorable for a plethora of reasons but one moment that is still grabbing headlines today was when Kyrgios appeared to smash a ball straight at Nadal after the Spaniard had has rushed to the net during the third set.
With Nadal not able to get out of the way in time, the point went to Kyrgios. The master of shithousery, was in no mood to apologise afterwards, however. When asked in the post-match press conference if he regretted not apologising to Nadal for the incident, he refused to give an inch.
"Why would I apologise? I won the point," said Kyrgios before the journalist told him Nadal didn't look too pleased. Kyrgios responded:
And? I don't care. Why would I apologise? The dude's got how many slams? How much money in the bank account?
I think he can take a ball to the chest, bro. I ain't going to apologise at all.
A different journalist asked him if he aimed the ball straight at Nadal, Kyrgios said "I was going for him, yeah. I wanted to hit him square in the chest."
🗣️'Why would I apologise?' ... 'I was going for him'
Nick Kyrgios sees no reason to apologise to Rafa Nadal for hitting the tennis ball at him.
Full presser of another entertaining press conference, so entertaining: https://t.co/5zwigCPkn2 pic.twitter.com/ousomreNXy— Rav (@RavitAnand) July 4, 2019
While he may have won that point, Nadal emerged the eventual victor, beating Kyrgios in four sets. Speaking after his victory, Nadal expressed his disapproval at Kygrios' shot:
It is not dangerous for me, it is dangerous for a line referee, dangerous for the crowd. When you hit the ball like this, you don’t know where the ball goes.
I know he’s a big, talented player, but I am a professional player, too. I know when you hit this kind of ball, the ball can go anywhere. This time the ball went in, almost hit me, no problem. I am professional, so I know how to avoid this.
But another one, the ball goes straight to the back. So it could have been a dangerous moment for the line umpire. That ball hits an eye or something like this, is a problem. That’s it.
With yesterday being the latest in a growing portfolio of animosity between the pair, it's fair to say they won't be on each other's Christmas card list any time.
