Rafael Nadal, one of the most renowned tennis players, had his fair share of clashes with Nick Kyrgios. Kyrgios, now making a long-awaited return to tennis, once had a significant rivalry with Novak Djokovic but has put their issues aside recently. Djokovic will play doubles with Kyrgios at the Brisbane International, and Kyrgios will make his return to Grand Slam tennis at the 2025 Australian Open. In their prime, Nadal and Kyrgios regularly faced each other in Grand Slam tournaments, with the Spaniard often left frustrated by the controversial Australian.

Nick Kyrgios' Views on Rafael Nadal

Before his return, Kyrgios discussed his views on his former rival. He admitted, "I used to hate and despise him so much when I saw him walking around. He was one guy who always motivated me." Remarkably, at Wimbledon in 2019, it was Nadal who came under fire from the crowd as he was booed for seemingly taking too long between serves. An impatient Kyrgios was waiting on the court, feeling that his opponent was intentionally slowing down the pace.They had previous tension in Mexico earlier that year when Nadal accused Kyrgios of disrespect after several underarm serves. When asked about the comments at Wimbledon, Nadal confirmed, "My thoughts are very clear. I play against a top talent player, a very dangerous player when he wants to play tennis. Normally against the best players, he wants to play tennis. When that happens, he's a very dangerous opponent."The intriguing rivalry continued at the 2020 Australian Open where Kyrgios mocked his fellow athlete by imitating his pre-service routine after receiving a time violation in his second-round clash. Nadal was unimpressed and said, "When he plays good tennis and shows passion for this game, he is a positive player for our tour and I want my tour bigger, not smaller. When he's ready to play his best tennis and play with passion, (he) is one of these guys. When he's doing the other stuff, of course I don't like."

Nadal's Thoughts on Kyrgios Ahead of the 2023 Australian Open

Two years later, a significant sign of easing tensions arrived as Nadal hyped Kyrgios ahead of the 2023 Australian Open. He said, "I know he doesn't like a lot to play Roland Garros. That's the only tournament that looks like he doesn't like to play that much. The rest of the tournaments, he played final in Wimbledon, and in New York he was close to the finals I think, with a very positive chance. He can win in any tournament that he's playing. He has all the talent, the weapons to win against any player. Of course, he can."In their head-to-head record, we can see some interesting matchups. For example, in 2022, Nick Kyrgios reached the Wimbledon semi-final, while Rafael Nadal reached the ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells quarter-final. In 2020, Nadal won the Australian Open round of 16, and in 2019, both had wins at Wimbledon. There have been many intense battles between these two on the tennis court over the years.