It only gets tougher from here, Rafael Nadal warns Wimbledon conqueror after stunning upset

Rafael Nadal warned his Wimbledon conqueror Nick Kyrgios on Tuesday that he will become a hunted man in the aftermath of his shock Wimbledon demolition of the 14-time grand slam title winner.

Kyrgios, just 19, stunned the world number one 7-6 (7/5), 5-7, 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 in a fourth round sensation which sent Nadal, the 2008 and 2010 champion, crashing to his third successive loss at the All England Club to a player ranked outside the top 100.

But 28-year-old Nadal refused to anoint world number 144 Kyrgios as a future Grand Slam champion-in-waiting, insisting that he will need to handle the growing expectations which will arise from his Centre Court triumph.

“The sport is a mental part a lot of times. He has things, positive things, to be able to be a good player,” said Nadal, sounding a trifle world weary.

“But at the end, everything is a little bit easier when you are new. Everything is new. Nothing to lose. Everything is good. Everything is positive. You can do whatever and will be positive, and everybody sees just the good things in you.

“When you are already there yourself, the rest of the people start to see the negative things in your tennis. We’ll see if he’s able to improve and to play at very high level for a long period of time.”