RAFA RULES
Nadal beats Kyrgios who smashes racket after walking out in Kobe Bryant jersey as Spaniard progresses to quarters
RAFAEL NADAL won the Grudge Match with Nick Kyrgios – and then told the Australian he will go far if he keeps playing in this new, respectful manner.
The Spaniard and the Aussie – who walked out in a Kobe Bryant LA Lakers jersey – have had their fallings-out and war of words over the past few years.
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But there were no fireworks and no sledging in this Australian Open last-16 clash on the Rod Laver Arena as Nadal triumphed 6-3 3-6 7-6 7-6.
The only moment of histrionics from Kyrgios was the moment in the third-set tie-breaker when he smashed his racket to the ground in anger and naturally received a warning for racket abuse.
Apart from that, Kyrgios was on his best behaviour, cutting out the trick shots, and it resulted in much a better match.
Kyrgios started in subdued manner, clearly affected by the news that NBA legend Bryant had perished with his daughter Gianna in a helicopter crash.
The Canberra star is huge basketball fan and wanted to pay his tribute to his idol by wearing the famous yellow Lakers top.
The 24-year-old improved in the second set, winning it 6-3 as Nadal surrendered his first set of the tournament.
Kyrgios’s service game was on fire – he crashed down 25 aces – and this caused all manner of problems for the world No.1
Yet Nadal, who looked like he might wobble at the end of the fourth set, showed his resilience in the fourth-set tiebreaker.
The 19-time Grand Slam champion will now face Austrian Dominic Thiem in the quarter-finals in Melbourne – the 41st time at Slam level he has appeared in the last-eight.
After the match, Nadal, 33, paid tribute to Kyrgios, saying: “It was a very tough match.
“Against Nick you are never in control. If you have a mistake like I did in the second set, with one serve of mine, then it’s so difficult to break him again.
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“What can I say about Nick? When he is playing like this today, with this positive attitude, he gives a lot of positive things to our sport.
“I encourage him to keep working like this. Because he is one of the highest talents that we have on the Tour.
“I like the Nick Kyrgios from the whole of this tournament.”
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