Rafael Nadal has moved to clarify comments made following his spicy Acapulco clash with Nick Kyrgios last week.
Kyrgios pulled off a comeback of the ages to down Nadal in a three-set, three-hour-long thriller.
The match itself had it all, and at one point, the momentum was greatly against the Australian when Nadal held three match points in the deciding set tiebreak.
However, Kyrgios reeled off five straight points to close out the match, sparking a scintillating run towards a fifth career ATP title to trigger a massive rise in the ATP rankings.
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While Kyrgios would put in performance after performance to later earn himself the Acapulco title, the clash with Nadal remains one of the most talked-about contests played out so far in 2019 - if not for Kyrgios' get-out-of jail smarts, but for Nadal's post-match comments that lit a fire, and caused Kyrgios himself to respond, albeit with a level head.
"He is a player who has a huge talent could be winning Grand Slams or fight the first position in the ranking," Nadal told stunned reporters in his native tongue after the Kyrgios match.
"He lacks respect for the public, the rival and himself."
Kyrgios brushed off the criticism to take down Stan Wawrinka and John Isner to cruise into the final, where he outplayed No. 2 seed Alexander Zverev to end his 14-month wait for an ATP title.
Through the drama - which included injuries, cramps, food poisoning, bitter crowds, criticism over a perfectly legal tactic and an early-hours drug test - Kyrgios remained hopeful that his resilience could provide a fine example to others.
"It's hopefully an example for people who are struggling and getting in some places you don't think you can get out of. If I can do it, you can do it," Kyrgios said after his win over Zverev.
"I was really down and out, and didn't know what I was going to do, but you have a week like this and things can change."
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However, the Nadal comments carried the most weight, and ahead of his BNP Paribas Open campaign at Indian Wells, the 17-time Grand Slam champion clarified what he told reporters following that match in Acapulco.
"I meant what I said, it was in Spanish, some translations are taken out of context. Most of what I said on him was positive,” Nadal told reporters at Indian Wells.
“I heard Nick put some stuff on his social media. I’m not that young, I don’t check social media every day.
"I don't feel disrespected by him serving underhand. He is free to do whatever the rules allow him to do.
"I understand this part of the game and I think it's a good show for the game, but there's other stuff in my opinion he can do better.
"Everybody is free to do whatever they want, but at the end of the day, in my opinion, he has an impact on the new generation."
