Rafael Nadal's act of pure class that put Nick Kyrgios to shame

OPINION

For all the pre-match trash talk, the mid-match trash talk and the fact he deliberately had balls hit at him, Rafael Nadal could have been forgiven for brushing Nick Kyrgios after their Wimbledon clash.

But the Spaniard put it all aside in one moment of class and sportsmanship as they were both leaving the court.

Tennis custom says the winner of a match should wait for the loser to leave the court before them.

That way the defeated player gets a round of applause from the crowd, rather than being overlooked as fans cheer the victor.

After their spiteful clash at the All England Club on Thursday, Nadal was packed up and ready to walk off but Kyrgios was lagging.

Instead of snubbing custom and brushing a man who labelled him ‘super salty’ and his uncle an ‘idiot’, Nadal waited for Kyrgios.

The World No.2 stopped and let Kyrgios pass him on his way to the dressing room, allowing the controversial Aussie a nice moment he arguably didn’t deserve.

And fans certainly noticed.

Nadal rises above Kyrgios antics

A series of verbal jousts between the two had dominated the build-up, and it continued during the match.

Kyrgios slammed Nadal’s go-slow tactics as ‘bulls**t’, fuming that the Spaniard was taking too long between points.

Kyrgios then riled Nadal when he speared a forehand into the advancing Spaniard's midriff.

It was the second time in the match Kyrgios had taken aim at his opponent, later admitting he did it deliberately.

"It certainly wasn't a passing shot, was it? He had time for a passing shot and he went for the head," Australian commentator Todd Woodbridge said on BBC TV.

Kyrgios refused to apologise in his post-match presser.

"Why would I apologise?" Kyrgios said.

"I didn't hit him. Hit his racquet, no? Why would I apologise? I won the point."

When told it was tennis "convention" to apologise after almost striking your opponent with the ball, Kyrgios was unrepentant.

"Is it? And?," Kyrgios said, adding that he didn't care that he'd upset the 18-times grand slam champion.

"I don't care. Why would I apologise? I mean, the dude has got how many slams, how much money in the bank account?

"I think he can take a ball to the chest, bro. I'm not going to apologise to him at all.

"I was going for him. Yeah, I wanted to hit him square in the chest. Like, he's got decent hands."

Nadal agreed he was "professional" enough to deal with Kyrgios's body shots, but felt slapping balls with such ferocity was also reckless.

"I don't say Nick does this stuff to bother the opponent, but (it) is true that sometimes he's dangerous," Nadal said.

"When he hit the ball like this, (it) is dangerous. (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.

"I know he's a big talented player, but I am a professional player, too. I know when you hit this kind of ball, the ball can go anywhere.

"This time the ball went in, almost hit me, no problem. I am professional, so I know how to avoid this.

"But another one, the ball goes straight to the back. So have been dangerous moment for the line umpire.

"(If) That ball hits an eye or something like this, (it) is a problem."

with AAP