During a recent interview, Kyrgios reminisced about a match he played against Nadal in Rome, where he struggled with the physicality of Nadal’s game.
Reflecting on the match, Kyrgios said, “I lost, like, 6-3 in the third or something. I couldn’t walk the next day. Against Rafa, it was different. Like, I couldn’t walk.
He continued, “I was like, thank f*** I didn’t win, because I wouldn’t be able to play today. It was different, the physicality, crazy. He’s a beast.”
Kyrgios also shared that he found it challenging to play against Nadal on clay courts due to the Spaniard’s dominant forehand.
He explained, “His forehand cross-court is a lot different on clay, compared to hard courts. On clay, you can’t find the backhand very well. In his prime, it was impossible to find the backhand.”
He added, “Off the first serve on the hard court, you can kind of return and get it to the backhand, but him (Nadal) on clay… like, every ball – every first or second ball – forehand, forehand, forehand.”
Both Kyrgios and Bublik are set to participate in the second leg of this year’s UTS tour in New York, just before the US Open.
UTS New York will take place at the historic Forest Hills Stadium from August 22nd to 23rd. Tickets for the event can be purchased here.
