Wimbledon Day Two: Nadal’s Royal Box snub, Kyrgios’ 90-year-old dig, Williams duo outdone

Nick Kyrgios stole the limelight on Day Two at Wimbledon with a typical hot-headed performance on – and off – the court. The Australian clashed with just about everyone as he edged out Britain’s gamely Paul Jubb. Rafael Nadal, meanwhile, was worked much harder than he would’ve anticipated in his opening Wimbledon match while the women’s game’s new queen toppled another record.

NO ROYAL BOX LOVE FOR RAFA

For most, Rafael Nadal was the star attraction on Day Two of Wimbledon. Even this morning on the tube, a Wimbledon fan told me: “I’ve seen Murray and Federer live but I’ve never seen Nadal. I’m expecting something special and can’t wait for that one.”

But, oddly, there was hardly anyone in the Royal Box during his opening Wimbledon match. 

Perhaps, they were off sampling the strawberries & cream somewhere. Wherever those famed faces who were due to sit in the Box on Tuesday – which included Bear Grylls and Mike Tindall – they missed a pretty entertaining match as Francisco Cerundolo threatened to rip up the s

TETCHY KYRGIOS FUMES AT OLD PEOPLE

Not even 90-year-olds it seems can escape Kyrgios’ firing line.

During his five-set thriller against Paul Jubb, Kyrgios slammed the umpire, the line judge, the crowd, himself, Jubb… and 90-year-olds.

“These people in their 90s, they can’t see the ball,” the Australian was heard fuming after losing a point in the third set.

It would not be the most outrageous thing to come out of Kyrgios on Tuesday though with the 27-year-old admitting to spitting towards a fan who had ‘disrespected’ him.

SWIATEK SURPASSES WILLIAMS SISTERS

If it’s not been realised already, we are witnessing something very special with Iga Swiatek. The World No 1 made light work of her Croatian opponent, dropping just three games on route to a straight-sets win.

Dropping as few as three games is even surprising for her these days, such is the run she’s on. The victory was her 36th in a row and saw her overtake both Serena Williams and Venus Williams’ record of 35 wins to claim the record in the 21st century. 

Still, Swiatek was as humble as they come and insisted afterwards that she is far from the ‘legends’ that the Williams’ sisters are. The way things are going, there is no reason why she cannot one day go down in history as a great just Venus and Serena.

PENISTON’S PAD SEARCH

When you’re a Brit who has just won at Wimbledon, your business is now of interest to just about every man and his dog.

Ryan Peniston found that out when it emerged that someone had spilled the beans on his search for a new pad with fellow British star Alastair Gray, who also won his first-round match at Wimbledon on Tuesday.

When a journalist asked if he was house hunting with Gray, Peniston replied: “Yeah, I don’t know where you’ve heard that from, but that’s pretty accurate information (laughter).

“Me and Ali, yeah, we’re great friends. Yeah, it would be cool if we could find a place around this area to stay. It would be awesome. But, no, we’re definitely looking for that.”