John McEnroe has come up with a fiery reaction after Rafael Nadal demanded to a have a talk with the tennis great. McEnroe had recently criticised Nadal during his first-round US Open match against Rinky Hijikata for taking more time than the designated 25 seconds to serve. The comment was brought up during Nadal's presser and he demanded to have a discussion over the serving row with the American.
Following his 4-6 6-2 6-3 6-3 win over his 21-year-old opponent in his first match at the US Open in three years, Nadal was asked by a reporter if was leaving "some kind of a shadow" on his legacy by "not following the serve clock rule" before citing the McEnroe had raised the issue on air.
“I think it's a joke. I went through a lot of warnings through my tennis career and never for breaking a racket or for doing a mess on court. But yes I have for the time clock," said Nadal.
“The problem for players like me who are sweating a lot, you know when you go to pick up the towel you will be in trouble with the time, so I'm not going very often.
{{/usCountry}}“The problem for players like me who are sweating a lot, you know when you go to pick up the towel you will be in trouble with the time, so I'm not going very often.
{{/usCountry}}“I am following the rules. If I am having more than 25 seconds I receive a warning every single time. If not, check the clock. I don't think I'm receiving different treatment at all. I don't understand why John can say that on the TV but I am going to have a chat with him later.”
McEnroe was later show a footage of Nadal's response to the reporter's question over the serve clock rule and he addressed the issue during his chat with Eurosport before admitting that he is yet to have a word with the Spaniard.
“Why did they throw me under the bus,” exclaimed the seven-time Grand Slam winner. “We haven’t had that talk. But let me just add that he didn’t let me finish, whoever that dumb journalist was. Rafael Nadal is entitled to do whatever the hell he wants. That’s part of why you get as good as you are. You’ve got to deal with that - and it’s not up to him.
“We all know that he’s been doing this for the past 10 or 15 years. There’s nothing new to that. It’s not his call - it’s the umpire’s. No one pays attention to that. It should be automatic if you’re actually going to do it, right. When do they turn it on? When do they do it? Is it at the end of the point, is it when they get to the towel, is it when the crowd comes down? Now Nadal thinks I said that his legacy has been stained because he takes too much time. Jiminy Cricket.”