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- Epic helps Nadal, Kyrgios develop newfound respect
Epic helps Nadal, Kyrgios develop newfound respect
Mutual respect between Rafael Nadal and Nick Kyrgios flowed like forehand winners on a balmy Melbourne night after the pair produced a four-set fourth round Australian Open thriller.
Adoration and praise between Rafael Nadal and Nick Kyrgios replaced the verbal barbs and animosity that have punctuated their rivalry in recent years, after the Spaniard world number-1 defeated the Australian 6-3 3-6 7-6 7-6 to advance to the Australian Open quarter-finals.
Nadal a fan of the 'new Nick'
"What can I say again about Nick? When he's playing like today with a positive attitude, he gives lots of positive things to our sport
"I encourage him to keep working like this because he's one of the highest talents we have on our tour.
"I like the Nick Kyrgios of this tournament.
Kyrgios responds to his newest fan
"I mean, I appreciate it"
I've known that for the last four years but the trouble for me is being able to actually just produce the same attitude over and over again. Hopefully I can keep doing it. I'm just taking it day by day, trying to be positive, just bring positive vibes.
"Rafa was really good. Played too good. The court was really, really slow. I just couldn't get a ball past him."
"I was trying to serve and volley, trying to dropshot. Eventually I would have to win the point three times to win a point. That's just the champion he is, the player he is.
"He makes you play the extra ball. He played well, considering how slow [the court] was. He served really well, hit his backhand slice really well. He just played the bigger points better than I did.
"I'm shattered to have lost. Obviously these are the matches that I want to win the most. I had chances. I was a couple of points away from the third set and the fourth set.
"It felt a lot closer this time, especially in the 5-5 game in the third set where I was at deuce a couple times. He played some unbelievable points. I felt like if I got that third set, I would have really, really been on top of him.
"I was kind of feeling the match turn a little bit. If I break in that game, I thought I was going to raise my intensity, my energy. I definitely felt a lot closer this time around. The one at Wimbledon, I felt like I wasn't playing as good."
Rafa's Nerves
"I played a bad game, that's true. I was playing great with my serve, winning all the games with very positive feelings.
"In the 5-4 game, like everybody, I get a little bit more nerves, I was nervous at that moment.
"I played a bad game. I accept I was more nervous at that moment. I am humble enough to accept that sometimes I am nervous and I can have mistakes. That's what happened.
"I kept going, because in the next game I have 15-40 again. I was not able to achieve the break but I said after it got to 6-5, 'I need to forget the bad game with my serve, we are still very close to the victory'.
"I needed to play with the right determination until the end of this set. I can lose, I can win, but I cannot play with more nerves than what I should. I did it already once, and I didn't want to repeat that.
"And I think I didn't ā in the 6-5 I played a great game with my serve. In the tie-break, I was serving well. I played a solid tie-break.
"Anything could happen in the tie-breaks. Both of them have been very close."
Kobe the inspiration for Kyrgios
"I never met Kobe but basketball is practically my life. I watch it every day. I've been following it for as long as I can remember.
"When I woke up to the news, it was pretty emotional. It was pretty heavy, like, all day. Obviously I was having basketball on at my house, watching the games. It was heavy. It's just tough. It's horrible news.
"If you look at the things he stood for, what he wanted to be remembered by, I felt like, if anything, it helped me tonight. When I was down a break in the fourth, I was definitely thinking about it. I fought back.
"I'm a Celtic fan. When I saw Kobe do what he does, break the hearts of so many Celtics fans, it was tough to see.
"I don't think they make them like him anymore. He was different, the way he trained, the way he did things, the way he played. He was special."