"I don't hate him at all and in some way, I like him as a character" - Rafael Nadal on Nick Kyrgios

Rafael Nadal has put rumors of bad blood between him and Nick Kyrgios to bed once and for all. The 21-time Grand Slam champion declared that he has a good relationship with all his colleagues and that Kyrgios was no exception. The Spaniard even went on to add that he was rather fond of the Australian for his unique personality.

Facing off against the former World No. 13 for the ninth time in his career, the Mallorcan secured his place in the semifinals of the 2022 Indian Wells Masters with a thrilling 7-6(0), 5-7, 6-4 win.

In the process, the Spaniard brought up his 19th straight win of the season. To make it 20, the 35-year-old will need to beat Carlos Alcaraz in the penultimate hurdle.

Speaking at his press conference after the match, the World No. 4 remarked that people were wrong to think he hated Kyrgios based on their strained relationship in the past.

For those unaware, the two have been at loggerheads occasionally, with Kyrgios even accusing Nadal after their encounter at the 2019 Mexican Open of having "no respect for him and his fans."

"In some way, I have a good relationship with all these players, and even if it's Nick [Kyrgios], you don't get me wrong and people can't think that we hate each other, because what happened in the past is not true at all," Nadal said. "I don't hate him at all. And in some way I like him as a character."

The former World No. 1 admitted that there were actions on the Australian's part that he personally disagreed with at times. But despite that, he made it clear that he had a healthy respect for the 26-year-old for bringing a different point of view to the table.

"I think he had a great attitude during the whole match in terms of fighting spirit, and of course he has his personality and his character," he said. "Sometimes he does things that I personally don't like, but I respect him because of different characters, different kind of points of view, and different kinds of education. I'm not saying that in a negative way at all, just different points of view."

Regarding their most recent match in the desert, Rafael Nadal lavished praise on Kyrgios for the way he never gave up till the very end. The Mallorcan hailed him for the "great level of tennis" that he displayed on the night, adding that it was exactly what he and tennis fans wanted to see from the Australian.

"The most important part of what we are coming here is to try to play tennis and to try to do the best way possible. I think he did. He fought until the end. He played some great level of tennis," Nadal said. "And that's the Nick Kyrgios that I want to see and the people like to see, no? Because that's good for tennis."

"ATP should review things and make decisions, but I hope nothing too bad happened" - Rafael Nadal on Nick Kyrgios almost hitting a ball kid

Rafael Nadal weighed in on Nick Kyrgios almost hitting a ball kid with a racquet smash

During his press conference, Rafael Nadal also touched on an incident in which Nick Kyrgios almost hit a ball kid at the end of the match. Having lost the encounter, the Australian took his frustration out on his tennis racquet by flinging it forcefully on the ground.

The racquet bounced unexpectedly and came really close to hitting a hapless ball kid standing near the end of the court. The Mallorcan refused to make any strong comments on the incident, noting that he did not get a clear view of what happened.

"I didn't see [Nick Kyrgios almost hitting the ball kid]. Sorry. I can't have a clear opinion because I was on my side and I was not able to see what happened," Nadal said. "But when you cross some lines, then it becomes different. When you allow players to do stuff [like that], then you don't know where the line is, and it's a tricky thing."

However, the 21-time Grand Slam champion hoped the ATP would review the incident and take the appropriate action. He reiterated his comments from earlier this week, where he said the sport was in need of stronger penalties to act as a deterrent for such behavior in reference to Alexander Zverev's outburst at the Mexican Open.

"ATP should review things and make decisions. We talked about that before the tournament. You know my opinion on these things," he said. "In the end, there's an organization that is making decisions and that's it. I am a colleague of all these players and I can't repeat what I said before the tournament started but it's true."

The former World No. 1 hoped what happened was not too bad for Kyrgios' sake, but made it clear that he stood by any strong measures the ATP might take after a thorough investigation. Even if it was only accidental, Rafael Nadal was of the opinion that such behavior could quickly escalate into something really dangerous if left unchecked.

"I hope nothing too bad happened, because I wish [Kyrgios] the best," Nadal said. "But if it's bad, the ATP needs to make decisions to avoid that and stop that because sometimes, even if it's very unlucky or unfortunate, it's going to lead to something negative happening."