Nadal Edges Kyrgios In Stormy Clash

Rafael Nadal booked his place in the third round at Wimbledon after edging out Nick Kyrgios in a tempestuous clash on Centre Court.

The 33-year-old Spanish world number two and third seed at the All England Club had exchanged words with the controversial Australian in the build-up to the encounter and it threatened to spill over at times.

Nadal raced into a 3-0 lead on his way to wrapping up the opening set, only for Kyrgios to hit back and level the tie up in the second.

Nadal was then required to go through tie-breaks in the third and fourth sets as he emerged with a 6-3 3-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-3) victory.

However, the outcome was only part of the story as Kyrgios had a frank exchange of views with the Chair umpire and also refused to apologise for hitting a return directly at Nadal.

Afterwards, the 24-year-old said: “Why would I apologise? I won the point. “I was going for him. I wanted to hit him. “The dude has got how many Slams, how much money in the bank account? I think he can take a ball to the chest.”

Nadal, who will now face Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in round three as he chases a third Wimbledon title and first since 2010, also spoke out about the incident, describing it as “dangerous”. He added:

“It is not dangerous for me, it is dangerous for a line referee, dangerous for a 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.”