Nick Kyrgios acknowledged Novak Djokovic’s greatness, even though he had already demonstrated it on multiple occasions.
The dynamic between Novak Djokovic and Nick Kyrgios has been fascinating. Before the outbreak of the pandemic, Kyrgios had little affection for Djokovic and criticized the Serbian for his careless approach to the game.
Kyrgios persisted in criticizing Djokovic for downplaying the seriousness of the pandemic. Still, they were able to patch things up when he stood up for the Serb during the ordeal of his deportation.
They have remained friendly ever since, even though Djokovic defeated Kyrgios in the 2022 Wimbledon final. With time, the Australian learned to value Djokovic’s contributions and gave him credit where it was due.
In a recent interview with Piers Morgan, Kyrgios made the same claim, referring to Djokovic as one of the greatest athletes.
Kyrgios expressed his thoughts about Djokovic and said: “This is one of the only sports in the world where you don’t know how long the match will go. It could be an hour and a half; it could be four hours; plans change. You have to be able to adapt; that’s why for me, Novak is one of the greatest athletes; it’s not like football, where you play a certain 90 minutes.”
Novak Djokovic in 2023
Currently the world no.1, Novak played his last match on the 25th of November when he lost to world no.4 Jannik Sinner 6-2 2-6 7-5 in the Rubber 2 of the Davis Cup (draw).
During this season Novak has a 56-7 win-loss record. The Serbian conquered 7 titles in 2023 in Adelaide, Australian Open, French Open, Cincinnati, U.S. Open, Paris and the Nitto ATP Finals. Djokovic got to the final in Wimbledon.
Nick Kyrgios in 2023
Now ranked no.470, Nick played his last match on the 13th of June when he was overcome by world no.121 Yibing Wu 7-5 6-3 in the 1st round in Stuttgart (draw).
This season Nick has achieved a composed 0-1 match record.
Novak Djokovic and Nick Kyrgios faced off 3 times. Their record is 2-1 for Kyrgios. Before, the last time they competed against each other, Novak Djokovic won 4-6 6-3 6-4 7-6(3) in the final in London (Wimbledon) in July 2022.
Here are the highlights.