Nick Kyrgios says John Isner was telling the truth when the former American tennis star described Rafael Nadal as “a horrible practice partner.”
The American, who launched a tennis podcast last summer along with Jack Sock, Sam Querrey and Steve Johnson, decided to tell one interesting story from the 2017 China Open on his show’s latest episode.
After arriving in Beijing and learning that he could possibly meet Nadal in the quarterfinal, Isner was told by his agent that Nadal wanted to practice with him. The former world No. 8 accepted the invitation – and it wasn’t an enjoyable experience for him – as the Spanish tennis icon was “crushing the ball” and being fully locked in as if it was a real match.
In the comment section of the podcast’s Instagram account, Kyrgios wrote: “Can confirm. Crushed the ball in practice. Horrendous (laughing emoji).”
Nick Kyrgios comment© Instagram
Isner became instantly suspicious after Nadal asked him for a practice
After his agent came with the news that the record 14-time French Open champion wanted to hit some balls with him, one of the first things that came to the American’s mind was that the Spaniard wanted to share the practice court with him so he could gather as much information as possible ahead of their possible Beijing match.
“Horrible to practice with, he hits the ball so hard and he hits winners and it’s Rafa, so you don’t say anything, right? Let him go on. ‘Rafa asked me to practice… Like, this is weird,’ and I saw the draw and was like, ‘Is that what he’s doing? Is he anticipating we’re going to play in the quarterfinals?’” the 2018 Wimbledon semifinalist said on the Nothing Major Podcast.
“And when I started thinking about it, I was like, ‘Yeah, that’s exactly what he was doing.’ He wanted to see my game, my serve, how I’m hitting the ball on the practice court.”
Funnily, they did meet that year in Beijing and Isner lost 4-6 6-7 (0) to Nadal.
Tennis World USA