Wimbledon: Nick Kyrgios enjoys late-night pub visit on eve of Rafael Nadal clash

Nick Kyrgios joked earlier this week he wouldn’t go to the pub with Rafael Nadal when asked about his relationship with the 18-time major champion. But he didn’t say anything about his own drinking habits in southwest London this week.

“Not sure that me and Rafa could go down to the Dog & Fox and have a beer together,” the Australian said on Tuesday at the All England Club after his first-round win, which set up Thursday’s blockbuster clash with the Spaniard. “I get along with people, some people I don’t get along with. We have a mutual respect, but that’s about it, I think.”

While there was no sign of Nadal at the famed Wimbledon Village watering hole on Wednesday night, pubgoers were a bit surprised to see Kyrgios there drinking on the eve of their second-round clash.

“Just gone 11pm and Nick Kyrgios is still in the Dog and Fox, the night before he plays Rafael Nadal on Centre Court. No sign of Nadal for that beer …” wrote tennis journalist Stuart Fraser of The Times.

Portuguese tennis journalist and commentator Miguel Seabra went one further than Fraser.

“I just had a toast with Nick Kyrgios at the Dog & Fox. He is completely relaxed, laughing with friends, chatting with girls, drinking,” Seabra wrote. “Quite an unorthodox preparation for tomorrow’s blockbuster, uh? I like it.”

Popping out to a bar is not an uncommon form of preparation for Kyrgios – he revealed he went out most nights in Acapulco, Mexico where he beat Nadal on his way to the title in March.

Fans were still split though on whether this was the ideal way for the controversial Kyrgios to get ready to face Nadal.

“Go home if you’re out drinking. We are rooting for you! We want this win!” wrote one supporter on Twitter. “We saw him and couldn’t believe he was there at all, let alone after 11pm. We left 11.30pm and he was still there,” said another.

Others thought Kyrgios should be left in peace. “The horror,” was one fan’s sarcastic response to Fraser’s tweet. Another wrote, “Yes Stuart, he should be tucked up in bed by 9pm with his pyjamas and teddy bear. You should have read him a bedtime story.”

The same user pointed out that “he was up til 3am before beating Rafa in Acapulco … so he has a few hours left yet! He’s also last on Centre so probably not playing til around 6pm.”

Kyrgios stunned Nadal as a teenager five years ago at Wimbledon, but their verbal jousting was kick-started in Acapulco.

The Australian saved three match points in that clash four months ago, with the crowd jeering him for his underarm serving antics.

Nadal said afterwards that Kyrgios needed to show more respect “for the public, the opponent and himself” – comments which led to 24-year-old to call the former Wimbledon champion “super salty” on a podcast with tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg.

“My thoughts are very clear,” Nadal said this week after his win against Japan’s Yuichi Sugita in straight sets.

“I play against a top talented player, very dangerous player when he wants to play tennis. Normally against the best players, he wants to play tennis. When that happens, he’s a very dangerous opponent.”