That Nick Kyrgios behaves inappropriately for an adult on a tennis court is not new; however, in his latest eccentricity, the talented Australian tennis player has compared himself to Rafael Nadal in a row with the chair umpire at the ATP 500 in Halle.
In the round of 16 of this iconic tournament on grass, against number six in the world ranking Stéfanos Tsitsipas, Kyrgios had lost the first set, had smashed a racket against the bench and at the start of the second, the rest, took longer of the account wiping the sweat with a towel. Immediately afterwards, the chair umpire warned him with a ‘warning’. The result? A heated discussion where Nick remembered the Spanish tennis player.
Can’t I go get my towel? I don’t care, but when I play against Rafa he does it all the time. I’m taking out and I have to wait for him. And they don’t say anything to him, ”protested the number 65 of the ATP while the German public dedicated a pitta to him.
On this occasion, Kyrgios healed his demons and, against all odds, was able to come back to the Greek (5-7, 6-2 and 6-4). His rival in the Halle quarterfinals will be Pablo Carreño, who defeated Korda in three sets (6-4, 0-6 and 6-3). On Friday, Spanish and Oceanic will face each other on the lawn of Halle (time to be defined).
After his victory, Kyrgios explained what happened at a press conference: «I had to go to the band to get my towel, there is a thing called sweat with a heat of 30 degrees Celsius that goes to your hands. I needed to clean my hands.”
