Nick Kyrgios has continued his criticism of Rafa Nadal by suggesting if it was the Spaniard and not Novak Djokovic he faced in the 2022 Wimbledon final, he would have won.
The Australian has often let it be known he is not the biggest fan of the 14-times French Open champion and his latest criticism comes in a reflection of the Wimbledon Championships from back in 2022.
In that season, Kyrgios reached the final – marking not only his first final appearance but the first time he had made it past the quarters and the first time in five years he made it past the third round.
But he ultimately fell at the final hurdle with Djokovic winning 4–6, 6–3, 6–4, 7–6 to seal a seventh Wimbledon title.
That though could have been different had it been Nadal, not Djokovic, on the other side of the net reckons Kyrgios.
“I don’t think I could have done better,” he said on a UTS podcast alongside Alexander Bublik and Patrick Mouratoglou. “I was solid overall. I just played a bad tie-break in the fourth set.
“He also broke me when I was 40–0 up on my serve in the third, that’s just unthinkable.
“If I had played someone like Rafa in the final, I would have done better. But Novak is different, he was in his thirtieth final, something like that, whereas it was my first. He’s so strong.”
MORE NEWS ON T365
What Carlos Alcaraz & Jannik Sinner said about playing each other before exhibition showdown
Stunning prize money won by Alex de Minaur at the UTS Grand Final is revealed
It is not the first time Kyrgios has been critical of Nadal on a podcast and back in July, the Australian said he “couldn’t stand” his Spanish counterpart.
“I couldn’t stand him,” Kyrgios told the Nothing Major podcast.
“I used to hate and despise him so much when I saw him walking around. He was one guy who always motivated me.
“If I played him I would get up for it and try and get the best tennis I could possibly play. I didn’t feel that anger towards Federer or Novak when I played them.
“If I played Rafa, because everyone in our academies back home idolised him, they were like: ‘he is such a hard worker, he’s this and that.’
“I was like ‘I can’t stand this guy’. I wanted to show people you could just have fun and be chilled and beat people like that.”
He also suggested Nadal’s meticulous fiddling before serving was one of his tennis ‘icks.’ Nadal meanwhile has rarely commented on Kyrgios.
The most dramatic statement from Nadal came back in 2019 when he said: “What he lacks is a little respect for the public, for his rival and also for himself.”
Read next: Which country produces the most and best ATP players on the tour?