Australia's Nick Kyrgios falls on court after playing a shot back to Spain's Rafael Nadal. Photo / AP
Australia's Nick Kyrgios falls on court after playing a shot back to Spain's Rafael Nadal. Photo / AP
For a little over three hours, Rafael Nadal and Nick Kyrgios lived up to their billing as polar opposites, with Spanish defiance and Australian impudence combining like baking soda and vinegar.
After four compelling sets, it was Nadal who prevailed 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3), but not without a short opera's worth of drama, antagonism and spite.
One third-set incident crystallised it all when Kyrgios fired a forehand straight at his opponent's chest. Nadal's glowering response spoke volumes. Even as the dust settled on his four-set victory at Wimbledon, he would not let the matter lie.
"The history of this sport is about respect, playing fair the whole time," Nadal said. "When Nick hits a ball like this, it's dangerous. I want to play a tennis match, and sometimes it's difficult."
In every sense, this match was Kyrgios redux, with purple passages interspersed with examples of lunacy. On balance, it was one of his most impressive performances, born of a history of bad blood with Nadal and Nadal's family.
But he could not keep a lid on his worst excesses, berating French umpire Damien Dumusois as "terrible" and a "disgrace", while peppering Nadal with needless body shots.
Kyrgios, characteristically, was unrepentant afterwards, suggesting he would target Nadal in the same way again.
"Why would I apologise?" he asked, when reminded of Nadal's reaction to being struck. But is it not the convention in tennis to be contrite?
"I don't care. The dude has got how many slams, how much money in his bank account? I think he can take a ball to the chest, bro. I'm not going to apologise to him at all."
Nadal, 33 — and nine years Kyrgios' senior — preferred to play the dignified elder statesman.
"He is a very talented player but there are a lot of other ingredients you need to be a champion," he said.
There is little sense Kyrgios will ever change. After all, his idea of preparing for this occasion had been to stay out beyond 11pm the night before at The Dog and Fox, his favourite haunt in Wimbledon Village.
Rafael Nadal celebrates his victory over Nick Kyrgios. Photo / AP
Come the contest, Kyrgios at least deigned to take it seriously, which made for a riveting spectacle. It is of a piece with his garish personality that the more celebrated his opponents are, the more motivated he is to take them down. Such is his pride at his 2-0 head-to-head record against Novak Djokovic, one half-suspects he would happily forgo any future duels, just to preserve bragging rights.
Kyrgios, who has a skin thinner than parchment, wasted little time in bringing out his repertoire of skulduggery. Down 5-3, he deemed it the perfect moment to try his first underarm serve, catching Nadal off guard. Unexpectedly, the Centre Court crowd, who usually prize decorum over rebellion, cheered wildly as Nadal swiped the ball away with a wry grin.
Such forbearance would not last. Despite letting the first set slip, Kyrgios soon dialled up the hostility in the second, switching his service motion for a second pea-roller that again Nadal could not reach.
The serve was so slow that the speed gun did not pick it up, and the spectators, so far tolerant of Kyrgios' antics, voiced their displeasure.
A Kyrgios broadside at officials is an established part of tennis ritual, and fans here did not have to wait long for his latest rant. At the next changeover, he let fly at Dumusois, urging him to ensure that Nadal was ready to receive serve. As ever, Nadal's habit of eking out every available second was starting to irk him. "Feels good up there with all the power, does it?" mocked Kyrgios from his seat, before miming experiencing an electric shock on his way to the baseline.
Sure enough, a code violation for unsportsmanlike conduct followed.
For two hours, Nadal had been happy to ignore the provocation. But when Kyrgios fired another missile off his racket at him, with real venom, any illusion of peace slipped. Nadal gave a death stare across the net, before celebrating wildly as soon as a febrile game was won.
Kyrgios, to give him his due, retained a semblance of discipline. He set up a third-set tie-break with a 218km/h second serve, only to be edged out 7-5.
Throughout the fourth he held firm, but when it came to the decisive breaker, the difference in the two men's mindsets showed. Where Nadal was unerring, Kyrgios was careless, netting a lackadaisical overhead. By such slender margins are these battles of wills decided.
Nadal was so jubilant, it looked as if he had taken a third Wimbledon title. If Kyrgios gave it his all on every point, could his career not one day be different? "If, if, if," Nadal smiled. "If doesn't exist."
