Gilles Simon and Nick Kyrgios mimic Rafael Nadal’s service routine including fiddling with pants after receiving time violations from the Australian Open 2020 chair umpire.
Kyrgios has previously criticised Nadal for the time he takes between points and he decided to let his frustrations show when he was given a time violation in his 2nd Australian Open 2020 match against Gilles Simon.
Both Kyrgios and Nadal are only 1 win away from playing each other which could now become a real grudge match.
“not acceptable”
“There weren’t any extracurricular activities I was doing before my serve to waste time,” Kyrgios explained.
The pair never quite got on and the Australian also called Nadal “super salty” in his previous outbursts.
Kyrgios was asked who did a better impression him or Gilles, he replied: “I don’t wear underwear, so probably Gilles’.”
Rafael Nadal was asked about the incident and was not prepared to get involved: “Honestly, I don’t care at all. If was funny, good. That’s it.”
Nadal has previously said Kyrgios “lacks respect” when the Australian started serving under arm during their match in Acapulco ATP.
World No.1 Rafael Nadal is now through to the 3rd round of the Australian Open 2020. He has a 4-3 head-to-head lead over Kyrgios, but the Australian has beaten Nadal 2 our of 3 times they met on hard courts.
Nick Kyrgios Shamelessly Mocks Rafael Nadal in Australian Open 2020. Funny or disrespectful? #Kyrgios #Nadal pic.twitter.com/caXAuL9gs5
— Love Tennis (@lovetennis_com) January 24, 2020
Kyrgios said he was not thinking about the rest of the tournament or who he could meet in future rounds,
- Novak Djokovic Reveals Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer Relationship in Australian Open 2020
- Roger Federer Wins 100th Match at Australian Open
- 2020 – Year Of The Goat?
The 24 year old was off to a flying start breaking the Frenchman at the start of each set and was also 4-2 in the third.
“I could have gone to a very dark place”
However, Simon was not about to go down without a fight by winning four games in a row to clinch the set.
Kyrgios, had to dig deep and with the help of the home crowd broke late in the fourth set to secure victory.
“I could have gone to a very dark place in the fourth set but I put it away,” Kyrgios said.
“I definitely lost my way a little bit. It would have been very interesting if it went to a fifth set.”
There drama on court also extended into the stands as Kyrgios appeared to take out his third-set frustrations on his own team.
He later apologised to his circle, by saying it was “not acceptable” for him to behave that way towards them.
“I apologised as soon as I went back into the locker room. They don’t deserve that,” he said.
“They do a lot of things for me on and off the court.”
Kyrgios who agreed to donate A$200 per ace to the bushfire appeal throughout his Australian Open campaign ended up hitting 28 aces against Simon.
Even former World No.1 John McEnroe agreed to contribute A$1,000 to the appeal per set that Kyrgios wins in the event.
Russian 16th seed Karen Khachanov is due to play Kyrgios next, we anticipate a great show.
How far can Kyrgios go in Australian Open 2020?
Funny or disrespectful?