While talking to reporters ahead of this week’s Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati, Roger Federer echoed the sentiments of Rafael Nadal, saying that he doesn’t condone Nick Kyrgios’ widely publicized actions during last week’s Rogers Cup in Montreal.
More: Kyrgios Apologizes
Here’s a tweet that includes Federer’s take, thanks to Chiara Gambuzza’s wonderful Twitter feed:
Aussie Thanasi Kokkinakis also weighed in on the issue, a day after some spillover emotions about it nearly caused him to come to blows with American Ryan Harrison during a qualifying match. "I let him know,” Kokkinakis said, according the The Age. “I made it pretty clear that he can't be doing that. If he's got a problem, he's got to say it in private. The way he went about it definitely wasn't the right thing."
Speaking to reporters in Cincinnati this afternoon, Rafael Nadal again reiterated his views on the matter. “Being young or not I think is not an excuse at all,” Nadal said when asked about the incident today. I don’t want to say much about it, but the real thing is that when we are on court, when we are saying things outside of court, we are in front of the camera, we are in front of the audience, and the most important thing, we are in front of kids. Our sport is a gentlemen’s sport, it’s a sport about respect, a sport about shaking hands after the match.”
“If we want to keep the game like this then we need to be strong on all this stuff.”