Nick Kyrgios is never afraid to voice his opinion. Recently, in an interview with The Athletic, Kyrgios commented on one age-old debate in tennis. There has always been a case of what if Pete Sampras, Boris Becker, Ivan Lendl, John McEnroe or Jimmy Connors faced off against Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. With various people having various opinions, Nick Kyrgios believes that the ‘Big Three’ would have dominated the older generation.
According to Tennis365, Nick Kyrgios named Pete Sampras to put across his point. He remembered a match Sampras played against fellow Australian, Lleyton Hewitt in the US Open 2001 final. Hewitt won that match for the first Grand Slam of his career. According to Kyrgios, Hewitt ‘destroyed’ Sampras and players like Novak Djokovic would ‘eat Sampras alive’.
“The game was slow back then. The serve and volley, to do it all the time now, you need to be serving 220, because if you serve anything less than 220, bro, Djokovic eats you alive. He eats you alive. Bro, Lleyton Hewitt destroyed Sampras one year at the US Open. He made Sampras look like sh*t. And what would Djokovic do to someone like Sampras? It would be a cleanup. If Hewitt was doing it, Djokovic would destroy him. He would eat him alive.”
Although Nick Kyrgios has given his opinion, it is also important to realize that tennis has changed a lot since the last two decades. Players are more concerned about their fitness and have included more physiotherapists in their teams to keep up with the demands and the pace of the game. This is just another top praise for Novak Djokovic from Nick Kyrgios.
Nick Kyrgios withdraws from the Australian Open 2024
Nick Kyrgios has opted out of the Australian Open for the second year in a row. The Australian superstar struggled with injuries in 2023 and missed out on the whole season. However, Kyrgios looked set to return to the ATP Tour in 2024. Although Kyrgios has withdrawn from the Australian Open, he is optimistic about a comeback in 2024.
Last season, Kyrgios suffered a serious knee injury that kept him out for the whole year. With Rafael Nadal set to comeback at the Australian Open 2024, tennis fans were hoping to see Kyrgios too. However, their prayers remain unanswered as the Australian announced, on his Onlyfans account, that he will need more time to recover.
“This is a very disappointing time for me, but I won’t be able to compete at the 2024 Australian Open. Obviously, heartbreaking. I’ve had so many amazing memories there, and I just want to really get back to playing at the top of my game and doing it right, and I need a little more time.”
