RAFAEL NADAL offered some words of advice for Nick Kyrgios after the Spaniard beat his opponent in the China Open final today.
Kyrgios imploded almost from the off after a line call was wrongly judged against him in the opening game of the match.
He berated the chair umpire on a number of occasions, eventually picking up a points penalty before the first set was out.
Nadal won the final 6-2 6-1 and was rarely threatened by the inconsistent Kyrgios.
It was a relatively meek match that failed to live up to expectations, especially after Kyrgios had posted some outstanding performances in the earlier rounds.
Kyrgios beat Nadal the last time they had met at the Cincinnati Masters.
And Nadal recalled the loss when advising his opponent to keep working on the good things in his game.
“Congratulations to Nick for a great week,” he said.
“Just a month ago you best met in Cincinnati. You’re doing great.
“Just keep going and playing that way.
“Of course you will have a lot of success in this sport.
“You have a great future, so just keep going. That’s the same for your team.
“Well done and all the best for the future.”
Nadal’s victory comes after he clinched the US Open back in September.
It is his first title in Beijing since winning this tournament 12 years ago.
“In 2005 when I won here I never thought that in 2017 I would still be playing tennis! I’m very happy to be here and to win the title,” he added.
“For me this is a very important victory. It’s great to have a team like this behind me during a great season.”
Both Nadal and Kyrgios will now head to Shanghai for the Masters event, which started today.
Top seed Nadal will play American Jared Donaldson in the second round, while Kyrgios comes up against Steve Johnson.
Discussing the final, Kyrgios said: “Firstly I want to congratulate Rafa. He’s had an extraordinary couple of months, with the US Open was unbelievable. I enjoyed watching every moment. It’s great to see him back in top form and World No 1 is a great credit to his team as well.
“It’s been an amazing week for me. My first time in Beijing and to make the final is pretty good. I’ve played some great tennis but it wasn’t to be today. Rafa played unbelievably. He’s one of the greatest of all time.
“A great week. I’m enjoying it. I’ll be back.”