Nick Kyrgios and Rafael Nadal may have never seen eye-to-eye personally, but they have produced a number of thrilling matches when pitted against each other on the ATP Tour.
The two stars first clashed at the 2014 Wimbledon Championships, where Kyrgios burst onto the scene by defeating Nadal in four sets to advance to the quarterfinals.
Their third and most recent Grand Slam meeting also came at the All England Club in 2019, with the Spaniard earning revenge with a straight-sets victory in a controversial but compelling bout.
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While Nadal ultimately finished his career leading the head-to-head 6-3, Kyrgios had perhaps the most impressive win in the rivalry, having beaten the 22-time Grand Slam champion hungover.
That win came at the 2017 Cincinnati Open and followed a night of partying until the early hours of the morning, according to Australian comedian Elliot Loney, who was with Kyrgios that evening.
Elliot Loney tells the story of his night with Nick Kyrgios in 2017
Speaking on the ‘Big Bros‘ podcast, Loney detailed the story of his night with Kyrgios before playing Nadal.
He said: “It was probably the most [drunk] I’ve ever been. Like, because I don’t really drink. I’m very clean in terms of my life. But Nick can draw it out of me sometimes.
“And it was a huge monstrous night and at about four o’clock in the morning, I was like, mate, you know, we should probably wrap it up. Like, you’ve got to play the world number one tomorrow. Rafael Nadal is waiting for you, you know. Like, you should probably just, like, leave.
“And he’s like ‘nah, bro. Like, whatever, bro. You can go, I’ll be fine, bro’. I was paralytic. Like, I was shaking in the bed the next day.
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“And I turned on the TV, five o’clock in the afternoon or something. And he was like 6-1, 3-1, up against Nadal. Like, hungover. I can’t put this into words how crazy that is.
“He was dusting him up. And the commentators were like ‘wow, Nick Kyrgios turned over a new leaf today. Look at this guy. I don’t know what he’s done, but he’s looking fresh. He’s incredible’.
“I was like, if only they knew. I don’t think that the sport of tennis has ever seen talent like that. It is absolutely insane.
“We’re talking about the world number one tennis player. The greatest tennis player on planet Earth. And he chops him with a hangover.”
Kyrgios beat Nadal 6-2, 7-5 that day, and advanced to the final in Cincinnati, where he was beaten by Grigor Dimitrov.
How Rafael Nadal reacted after losing to Nick Kyrgios in 2017
Speaking in his post-match press conference after losing to Kyrgios that day, Nadal said: “He obviously is a tough match always, no? Nick is a great player, but I played bad, obviously, no?
‘I started the match well, and then I played a very bad game in the second set when he break me. And then I managed — I was lucky.
“I don’t know. I played some good points. He had some mistakes and I was able to be back in the match. And then I played terrible game.
“So, yeah, was a bad match for me. Congrats to him. That’s it.”
Nadal beat Kyrgios later on that season in the China Open final, winning 6-2, 6-1.
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