Nick Kyrgios has revealed he used to “hate and despise” Rafael Nadal when seeing the legendary Spaniard in the locker room at tournaments.

Former world No 1 and 22-time Grand Slam champion Nadal called time on his career last month, playing his final match in Spain’s Davis Cup quarter-final loss to the Netherlands.

Kyrgios played the tennis great nine times, holding a 3-6 record against Nadal.

The Australian famously stunned Nadal at Wimbledon in 2014 – Kyrgios’ breakthrough tournament – and also defeated him at the 2017 Cincinnati Open and 2019 Acapulco Open.

Nadal and Kyrgios shared a tense relationship across their career, with the two clashing off-court on multiple occasions.

After their Acapulco encounter, Nadal infamously claimed that Kyrgios was “a good guy, but what he lacks is a little respect for the public, for his rival, and also for himself.”

Speaking this week on the Nothing Major podcast, former world No 13 sensationally claimed that he “couldn’t stand” seeing Nadal during the latter’s playing career.

The 29-year-old also revealed that he felt an “anger” towards Nadal that he never felt when up against fellow ‘Big Three’ greats Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

“I couldn’t stand him,” said Kyrgios.

“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 idolized 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.”

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Despite their differences, Kyrgios paid a touching tribute to Nadal after the Spaniard confirmed his retirement from tennis earlier this season.

On Twitter/X, he wrote: “Damn. I’ve had nightmares that have woke me up about Rafa. I’m gonna miss them.

“This was someone that I used to prepare for… he was a motivation – I guess an inspiration. F**k – it’s true- people do bring the best out of you.

“You were one of those people. Damn…..”

While Nadal is exploring life post-tennis, Kyrgios makes his long-awaited return to professional action at the end of the month.

After a successful 2022 season, the Australian played just one ATP-level event across 2023 and 2024 due to a range of injury issues.

However, the former Wimbledon finalist will finally return to action on home soil, joining the likes of Novak Djokovic in the Brisbane International draw.

That will be followed by an appearance at the Australian Open, where Kyrgios will play for the first time since 2022.

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