Defending Acapulco champion downplays bad blood with king of clay.
Top-seeded Rafael Nadal and nemesis Nick Kyrgios gave us a blockbuster Acapulco epic last February.
The volatile Kyrgios fought off three match points edging Nadal and muting the pro-Rafa crowd with a gripping and contentious 3-6, 7-6(2), 7-6(6) triumph. That inspired comeback win igntited Krygios on a rousing title run.
More: Clijsters Took Six Drug Tests Before Comeback
Two-time gold-medal champion Nadal and Kyrgios are on opposite sides of the draw and could square off again in this week's Acapulco final.
Both men thrilled fans participating in Abierto Mexicano Telcel kids' day.
Photo credit: Guillermo Sanchez
In his first match since bowing to Dominic Thiem at the Australian Open, Nadal will face fellow Spaniard Pablo Andujar in his opener followed by a potential second-rounder vs. either Aussie Alex de Minaur or 50th-ranked Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic.
The sixth-seeded Kyrgios, who withdrew from Delray Beach last week nursing a wrist issue, launches his title defense vs. Frenchman Ugo Humbert.
It will be Kyrgios' first match since falling in four tight sets to Nadal in the Australian Open fourth round last month.
The temperamental Aussie admitted he tried drilling Nadal "square in the chest" during his second-round Wimbledon loss last summer.
In Melbourne, Kyrgios downplayed a rift with Nadal saying there is no bad blood in their sometime acrimonious rivalrty.
"I don't really know Rafa. I've never, like, hung out with him or anything like that," said Kyrgios. "So I don't really know how he is. I don't really dislike him. I never said…
"I mean, I don't know him at all. Hell of a tennis player. Don't know him as a person. I'm sure he's okay."
Photo credit: Guillermo Sanchez
