John McEnroe has accused a journalist of ‘throwing him under the bus’ after Nadal was asked about taking too long before serving.
The question was put to Nadal after the Spaniard defeated Rinky Hijikata on Tuesday night in his opening match.
In his press conference Nadal was asked by a journalist whether his legacy was put in risk due to taking advantage of the 25 second shot clock rule and cited McEnroe for the argument.
This is as the American spoke about the issue during Roland Garros but hasn’t commented on the topic since.
Now speaking on Eurosport the American has lashed out at the journalist for throwing him under the bus, “Why did they throw me under the bus? We haven’t had that talk (with Nadal) but let me just add that… he didn’t let me finish, whoever the dumb journalist was,” the seven-time Grand Slam singles champion said to Eurosport.
“Rafa Nadal is entitled to do whatever the hell he wants, that’s part of why you get as good as [Nadal is], 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 to 15 years. There’s nothing new to that. It’s not his call – it’s the umpires.
“And by the way I think it’s BS anyway, that [rule]. No one pays attention to that. It should be automatic if you’re actually going to do it, right?
“And when do they turn it on? Is it at the end of the point? Is it when they get to the towel? Is it when the crowd comes down? This guy… now Nadal thinks I’m saying his legacy’s been stained because he takes too much time.”
The 22-time Grand Slam champion may be questioned on McEnroe’s comments once the Spaniard plays Fabio Fognini in the second round at the US Open.
The match will be the second night match on Arthur Ashe Stadium at about 01:30 AM BST.