The Spanish tennis player who Nick Kyrgios said he ‘could not stand’

Nick Kyrgios said he ‘could not stand’ Fernando Verdasco

When appearing on the Nothing Major Podcast in December last year, Kyrgios was asked which player he found the most annoying.

Kyrgios responded by naming former top 10 player Fernando Verdasco, who he called ‘arrogant’.

“In general I could not stand Fernando Verdasco,” said Kyrgios. “I could not stand the guy. I don’t know why. It was raining somewhere and he had his shirt off practicing!

“I was like ‘Dude, it’s not even sunny, put your shirt back on’. I don’t think I have ever met someone more arrogant through the hallways, ever in my life. I just couldn’t stand the guy.”

This was not the only time that Kyrgios and Verdasco fell out, having also had an argument on social media six years prior.

The social media spat between Nick Kyrgios and Fernando Verdasco in 2018

One of Kyrgios’ best friends on the ATP Tour is his compatriot Thanasi Kokkinakis, who played Verdasco at the Miami Open in 2018.

This match was not short of drama, as Verdasco accused Kokkinakis’ father of talking in between serves.

Verdasco’s comments prompted Kyrgios to make a post on X (known as Twitter at the time), writing, “I hope TK [Thanasi Kokkinakis] wins this match, Verdasco is the saltiest dude, must be frustrated at his past success against Aussies.”

Kyrgios’ post was quickly deleted, but was still noticed by Verdasco who fired back with a response.

Verdasco wrote, “When you have the courage to put a tweet insulting another player you need to have the same to don’t delete it.”

Kyrgios then explained his reasons for deleting the post, “I would honestly have told it to Fernando’s face, the reason I deleted my previous tweet was because I didn’t want to cause unwanted attention, but I’m just gonna leave this here. Thanks for blocking me, I’m sure that took a lot of courage x.”

They would never play each other after this fallout, with Kyrgios winning his two matches against Verdasco prior to 2018.

Verdasco will also no longer be an issue for Kyrgios, as he officially retired from tennis after playing doubles with Novak Djokovic at the Qatar Open earlier this year.