The issue started when Nadal hit Sonego in the head, prompting the Italian to call for the lights at 3-1 in the final set. The roof eventually closed at 4-2, prompting a frustrated reaction from the eager Spaniard. “He wants to do this,” said the commentator. “It would be a bit rich as Nadal wants to take his time, but we don’t have the hustle and bustle here like it is on Court 1. Nadal is not happy, it’s earlier than normal. Nadal disputes this. It feels like Sonego has dictated this.” After the restart, Sonego won two games to level things at 4-4. Unusually, Nadal then called his opponent to the net where they had a heated exchange, prompting the umpire to get involved. DON’T MISS: Nick Kyrgios refuses to play, calls for Stefanos Tsitsipas to be kicked out of Wimbledon “That’s interesting, it needs a word,” added the commenter. “That’s amazing. I’m very surprised that Rafa has taken it upon himself and it just shows that he lost his serve at love. He’s called his opponent to him and if I were Lorenzo Senogo I’d be very offended too. “He made noise after the first return after the first return in the very first point and Nadal says it’s disrespectful and I don’t like the etiquette. We’re trying to match Court 1 here.” Nadal then rediscovered his drive to win the last two games and see out the match. And he made it look relatively easy too, cruising through 6-1 6-2 6-4 to record his first straight-sets win of the tournament, but the net came back into the net once the result was confirmed and the debate became decidedly wider. from the usual handshakes and formalities. The 22-time Grand Slam champion made light of the incident during his post-match interview, however, and insisted he did not deliberately escalate the situation. “Sorry, not spicy at all,” he said. “I’m really sorry now if I bothered him. I just wanted to say something to him. I did it in a nice way, but I feel really bad now if I bothered him. I’ll talk to him right away.” Nadal will now prepare to face Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp in the fourth round – his highest-ranked opponent so far. The 26-year-old has beaten the likes of Feliciano Lopez and Richard Gasquet to get this far and is likely to provide a stern test. Looking further ahead, he could be on a collision course to meet Australian sensation Nick Kyrgios in the semi-finals. Kyrgios beat fourth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas in a fiery encounter on Saturday and looks set to be a tough draw for whoever gets past him.
