VIDEO: Fan Captures the Exact Moment When Nick Kyrgios’s Racquet Almost Hit the Ball Boy After Rafael Nadal Match

Nick Kyrgios has been receiving high criticism following his on-court misconduct. Kyrgios, who lost to Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals in Indian Wells, indulged in a series of aggressive emotional outbursts during the match. What started with loud shouts soon turned into abusing the crowd and breaking the racquet.

The tennis community gave him breathing space for his acts during the match, reasoning it as an outburst due to the match pressure. However, his post-match outburst did not leave any room for explanation or justification. Kyrgios’s post-match outburst not only affected him but also almost injured one of the ball kids.

Visiting Kyrgios’s post-match outburst

After going toe-to-toe for 2 hours and 46 mins, Kyrgios lost to Nadal 6-7(0), 7-5, 4-6. Nadal ended the match with an overhead smash, following which both players came to the net for the customary handshake. After the customary handshake with Nadal and the chair umpire, frustration filled Kyrgios smashed his racquet on the court.

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Things got ugly when the racquet accidentally bounced heavily and nearly stuck a ball boy standing behind the court. Had the ball boy not moved from his position, the racquet would have stuck him, assumingly causing some injury.

Following his act, the Australian is being heavily criticized on social media. Regretting the act, the player took to his Instagram, issuing an apology to the ball boy. However, the apology wasn’t enough for his ferocious act. He further tracked down the kid on Instagram, personally apologizing to him and offering him a racquet as a token of apology.

The ultimate effort of Nick Kyrgios

Though Kyrgios was criticized for his violent act, his efforts against Nadal in their quarterfinal cannot be faulted. Entering the tournament as a wildcard, Kyrgios breezed through his earlier rounds to set up a mouth-watering quarterfinal tie against an in-form Rafael Nadal.

The match started with both the players holding their serves. However, shifting gears early, Kyrgios broke Nadal in his second service game. Holding his serve, Kyrgios took a 3-1 lead. Trying to serve for the set, Nadal broke Kyrgios’ serve to level the set at 5-5. Not willing to give up, both players indulged in some ferocious exchanges, taking the set to a tiebreaker. However, it was Nadal who dominated the tiebreaker, winning it 7-0.

Serving at 5-6 in the second set, Nadal faltered in the 12th game to hand Kyrgios the set 7-5.

Despite winning the second set, the Australian was visibly disturbed and lost his composure. Nadal capitalized on Kyrgios’s vulnerability as he broke the Aussie in the 7th game to take a 4-3 lead in the deciding set. The Spaniard did not panic and held his next two service games with ease to take home the deciding set and the match. Following his hard-fought win over Kyrgios, the Spaniard is now 19-0 so far this season. He will lock horns against his compatriot Carlos Alcaraz in the semifinals on Saturday in Indian Wells.

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Despite an ugly incident that capped off the Kyrgios-Nadal clash, the Australian can hold his head in high regard following his performances at the Indian Wells Masters. He has also received a wildcard entry into the Miami Masters and it will be intriguing to witness if he can continue his good run of form in Miami.