Nick Kyrgios full of praise for Rafael Nadal's performance

Home favorite Nick Kyrgios was full of praise for Rafael Nadal's performance after losing to the world No. 1 in the Australian Open round-of-16. 

Kyrgios, who was seeking his fourth career win over Nadal, competed extremely well against the Spaniard but still fell short as the top seed won 6-3 3-6 7-6 (6) 7-6 (4) to set up a quarterfinal against Dominic Thiem. 

Nadal was drawn into two consecutive tie breaks after losing the second set but he came up big the key moments of the last two sets to earn his fifth win over Kyrgios. 

"I just couldn’t get a ball past him,” Kyrgios told reporters after the match, per Tennishead.

“I was trying to serve and volley, trying to drop-shot. Eventually I would have to win the point three times to win a point.

“That’s just the champion he is, the player he is. He makes you play the extra ball. I thought he played well, considering how slow it was.

“I mean, he served really well, I thought. Hit his backhand slice really well. He played well.

"He just played the bigger points well, better than I did."

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/30YKXeY