Nick Kyrgios did not back down Thursday after a hotly contested second-round match against Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon, refusing to apologize for trying to hit the Spaniard during their match.
In fact, Kyrgios said he wanted to hit Nadal "square in the chest" with a hard forehard during the third set of his 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-3) loss to Nadal, the BBC reported.
Nadal appeared annoyed after the shot, but Kyrgios was not in a mood to apologize to the 18-time Grand Slam champion after winning the point.
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"Why would I apologize? I mean, the dude has got how many slams? How much money in the bank account?" the Australian said during a news conference. "I think he can take a ball to the chest, bro. I'm not going to apologize to him at all."
Nadal said he was not worried about his safety, but the well-being of others, ESPN reported.
"I don't say Nick does this stuff to bother the opponent, but (it) is true that sometimes he's dangerous. When he hit the ball like this, (it) is dangerous," Nadal said. "(It) is not dangerous for me, (it) 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."
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