Nick Kyrgios’s controversial behaviour during his professional tennis career hasn’t just been confined to the courts. Accused of tanking, taking verbal shots at rivals, and umpire abuse, the Australian has paid his fair share of fines since joining the ATP Tour in 2012.
However, he’s now revealed how he once found a sly way to cut costs. Back in 2017, the 30-year-old produced some scintillating tennis to make it through to the China Open final to face Rafael Nadal. However, his momentum then came to an abrupt end at the hands of the Spanish icon.
Nadal, who retired with a 6-3 head-to-head record over Kyrgios, dismantled his rival 6-2 6-1. However, little does he know that later that night, his opponent got revenge without him even knowing.
“He beat me in the final of Beijing, and he destroyed me,” Kyrgios told talkSPORT. “I was having a really good week, finals of Beijing, pretty big tournament. Then I get destroyed by Nadal.
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“Having a couple of wines that night, having a couple of drinks with my boys. I was like, ‘You know what? This guy just destroyed me, probably earned over $1million (£738,000) that week.’”
He added: “I was like, ‘You know what? I’m going to put all of my room service…’ It was actually in a hotel restaurant, I just put it on Nadal’s room and I just signed it as Nadal.
“The waitress had no idea so to this day, I’m sorry Rafa if you got this outstanding couple grand bill from me. Actually, I’m not sorry at all (laughing), you’ve earned way too much cash in your career.”
Indeed, the bill is unlikely to have harmed Nadal’s net worth too much. He’s reportedly earned more than £99m in career earnings, following an illustrious career that yielded 22 Grand Slam titles.
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