Rafa Nadal: Age is no excuse for Nick Kyrgios comment

The 20-year-old caused a storm at the Rogers Cup in Montreal on Wednesday when he said to Wawrinka, who later pulled out of their second-round match with an injury, “[Thanasi] Kokkinakis banged your girlfriend. Sorry to tell you that, mate."

Nadal said he did not watch the match but saw the video afterwards, where the comment was picked up by TV cameras.

The Spaniard added: “I don’t understand why he said that. It’s completely unnecessary.

“The world of tennis, we should be an example for a new generation of kids.

“When you are on the tour, when you are in the locker room every single week of the year… the life is much easier if you have a good relationship with the rest of the players. What happened yesterday doesn’t help with that.”

“Everybody can make mistakes. Age is not an excuse. We are here and most of the players around the tour, started on the tour very early. I started on the tour at 16, Novak [Djokovic] probably at 17, Andy [Murray] at 18, so age is not an excuse at all it’s just about respect.”

Nadal insisted that Kyrgios is a huge talent and could possibly be No 1 in the future. But the 29-year-old continued: “He was wrong yesterday and I hope he’s able to recognise his mistake.

“You have to go on court and you have to do the right things. Yesterday he was not doing the right things. He has time to improve that attitude. I am sure that he is smart and he will do it.”