Nick Kyrgios funnily shared that he’s probably not an enormous fan of protecting Novak Djokovic’s at the beginning of Grand Slams as a result of he feels the Serb “plays around with his food” and that’s one thing that makes him very annoyed as a result of he has to sit down down within the sales space for greater than he most likely ought to.
Because the Australian was restricted to just one event within the final two seasons, he discovered one thing else to do whereas recovering from his surgical procedures. So in late 2023, he made his commentary debut for Tennis Channel in the course of the ATP Finals. Since then, Kyrgios additionally labored at this 12 months’s Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open.
Whereas protecting a number of the greatest tournaments this 12 months, Kyrgios stumbled upon Djokovic a number of instances and it will typically result in the 2 joking round. However whereas the 2022 Wimbledon finalist now has an impressive relationship with the report 24-time Grand Slam champion, he admits that he “hates” doing his clashes.
“I’ve performed a variety of Novak matches and he frustrates the hell out of me as a result of I hate doing his matches early on in Slams. As a result of he simply performs round along with his meals for like 4 hours and I’m like ‘I could’ve been in my resort an hour and a half in the past,’ and he’ll be up two units to like. Then he’ll lose the third and begin complaining after which he’ll go to his field, and there can be a 7-6 within the fourth and I’m like ‘dude, do you just enjoy keeping me here’, as a result of he is aware of that I’m in there after which he begins dropping focus. He frustrates the hell out of me, I hate doing Novak’s matches,” Kyrgios said on Australian Open’s The Sit-Down show.
Nick Kyrgios and Novak Djokovic© YouTube screenshot
After making his feelings clear on sitting in the booth when Djokovic plays, the former world No. 13 also mentioned Carlos Alcaraz as one of his favorite players to watch.
“I’ve done a lot of Alcaraz as well and I think he’s probably one of my favorites to watch because he’s so exciting and always has something up his sleeve that I think this tennis world hasn’t seen. He’s going to keep evolving,” the seven-time ATP champion added.
Djokovic was the one who sent the key message to Kyrgios
As mentioned above, the two had some practice sessions together this year and it happened at Wimbledon. Just before The Championships started, the Australian and the Serb hit some balls together. Then, the same happened during the tournament.
At the time, Kyrgios wasn’t preparing himself to return but he was rather trying to test himself and see where he was at. And that’s when he received a message that changed everything for him and convinced him that he should absolutely return one more time.
“I was hitting with Novak and when he said to me, ‘It doesn’t look like you’ve had surgery. And that was a big motivation to say like maybe I’m actually making some inroads and some progress into getting back because I didn’t really know. That was a big drive for me… so, if he didn’t say that, I don’t know if I would have been motivated and if I would have kept pushing on the thought, but that was definitely a big part of the journey when he said that to me,” Kyrgios recounted.
Nick Kyrgios and Novak Djokovic© YouTube screenshot
Kyrgios confirmed his comeback date
What had been rumored for months turned official final week – the 2022 Wimbledon finalist would launch his comeback at the beginning of the 2025 season. It’s going to occur on the Brisbane Worldwide, which is because of run by December 29 – January 05.
Forward of his comeback, Kyrgios highlighted a number of instances that his final objective can be to achieve the extent the place he can contend for Grand Slams. Additionally, he remarked that he believes his return will not essentially make a few of his colleagues completely satisfied.
“Whether a player wants me to come back or not, I don’t think there will be too many happy faces seeing me back on the tour. I had a lot of friends and also a lot of people that didn’t get along with me which I think is completely normal in sport and I think the tennis world needs a bit more of that,” he stated.
Coming back from a severe wrist damage and surgical procedure has by no means been a simple comeback for any tennis participant – the most effective examples are Juan Martin del Potro and Dominic Thiem.
Nevertheless, if Kyrgios can keep away from additional wrist points and keep away from main accidents, it will positively assist him in his bid to win a Grand Slam earlier than retiring.
