Nick Kyrgios has refused to apologise to Rafael Nadal - and says he meant to hit him “square in the chest” with the ball during their Wimbledon grudge match.
Aussie wild child Kyrgios was dumped out of Wimbledon by his long-time foe Nadal in the second round on Thursday evening.
Kyrgios, who spent the night before the match enjoying late drinks at the Dog and Fox pub, insisted: “Why would I apologise?”
In an eventful performance, Kyrgios had a row with the umpire and called him a "disgrace", struck a second serve at a staggering 143mph and threw two trademark underarm serves.
But the most controversial moment was when he tried to his 18-time Grand Slam winner Nadal at the net - hitting his racquet on one attempt during the third set - before losing 6-3 3-6 7-6 7-6 in the match of the tournament so far.
Nadal accused Kyrgios of being dangerous - but the Aussie hit back in a post-match interview that was just as explosive as his performance.
“Yeah, I was going for him,” said Kyrgios. “Yeah, I wanted to hit him square in the chest. Like, he's got decent hands.
“I didn't hit him. Hit his racquet, no? Why would I apologise? I won the point.
“I don't care. Why would I apologise? I mean, the dude has got how many slams, how much money in the bank account? I think he can take a ball to the chest, bro. I'm not going to apologise to him at all.”
Kyrgios shocked Nadal on the same Centre Court in 2014 and there has been a simmering feud since. And there was an electrifying edge to the encounter though Nadal insisted his opponent had gone too far with his bodyline tactics.
The 12-time French Open champion, who celebrated winning the match with a fist-pump worthy of a Grand Slam final, said: “The history of this sport is about respect and is about playing fair during the whole time.
“I don't say Nick does this stuff to bother the opponent, but is true that sometimes he's dangerous. When he hit the ball like this, is dangerous. It is not dangerous for me, is dangerous for a line referee, dangerous for a crowd. When you hit the ball like this, you don't know where the ball goes.
“I know when you hit this kind of ball, the ball can go anywhere. This time the ball went in, almost hit me, no problem. I am professional, so I know how to avoid this.
“But another one, the ball goes straight to the back. So have been dangerous moment for the line umpire. That ball hits an eye or something like this, is a problem.”
