The Nick Kyrgios vs Alexander Zverev rivalry had loads of potential to develop into a riveting affair. However, their off-field antics have grabbed more attention than their tennis, stagnating the duel. The duo first crossed paths in 2017 and have played a total of seven matches on the ATP Tour. The Australian leads the Nick Kyrgios vs Alexander Zverev head to head, 4-3.
Kyrgios and Zverev were good friends initially. In 2019, Zverev stated they used to have dinner together and called the Australian ‘cool’ and ‘funny’ (Tennis Time). Kyrgios, for his part, came ahead to defend the German after a journalist revealed Zverev had no top 10 wins in 2019. He hit back, mockingly saying the journalist has 0 wins in his life.
Ahead of their first meeting, he called Zverev a ‘close mate’ and lavished praise upon his gameplay (TennisTonic). Interestingly, they had even paired up for playing men’s doubles at the 2016 French Open.
However, the Kyrgios-Zverev friendship went awry around 2020. The maverick Aussie ticked off Zverev by doing push-ups every time he double-faulted when the latter represented Germany in a crucial ATP Cup clash against Australia as his opponent was Alex de Minaur. Zverev hit back by saying that Kyrgios isn’t even the best player from his country on the ATP Tour, adding there were many more players better than him.
Kyrgios also proceeded to slam Zverev after videos of him partying in 2020 amid the COVID-19 lockdown went viral. More recently, the 2020 US Open finalist has been under the scanner with allegations of domestic abuse. Kyrgios, who is currently professionally inactive, has taken many indirect digs at Zverev and his controversial Break Point episode.
Meanwhile, Zverev also took a sly dig, implying he should have been the focus of Season 1 rather than Kyrgios. While all this off-court drama would have made their matches crackling contests, they unfortunately have not played each other since 2019.
A timeline of the short Nick Kyrgios vs Alexander Zverev rivalry
From 2017 to 2019, Nick Kyrgios faced Alexander Zverev seven times, including one Davis Cup fixture. Here is a breakdown of how the brief Nick Kyrgios vs Alexander Zverev rivalry pared out:
Early 2017: Kyrgios gets a headstart – Zverev and Kyrgios’ first meeting happened at the 2017 Indian Wells Masters in March 2017. Nick Kyrgios won the third-round clash without breaking a sweat in three sets. A couple of weeks later, they squared off again in the quarter-finals of the Miami Open. The result was the same, albeit Kyrgios had to work a little harder on that instance for a 3-set victory.
Late 2017: Zverev pulls one back but Kyrgios keeps lead intact – Bouncing back from his two previous defeats, Zverev bagged his first win of the Nick Kyrgios vs Alexander Zverev h2h in the Canadian Open. The German, who had secured his first ATP 1000 title that year, beat his then friend in straight sets in the fourth round in Toronto.
Kyrgios, however, regained his two-win lead by winning the semi-final of the China Open in October 2017. He ended the year with a 3-1 head-to-head lead over Zverev.
2018: Zverev draws level – After 4 highly entertaining clashes in 2017, fans witnessed a thrilling Nick Kyrgios vs Alexander Zverev match in the Davis Cup. With Germany leading 2-1, Kyrgios needed a win to keep Australia in the contest. However, he fell after three see-saw sets.
Zverev also won their second clash of 2018, beating Kyrgios in the fourth round of the Miami Open. The head-to-head was tied 3-3 after this.
2019: Kyrgios wins their most recent match to rescue lead – Kyrgios faced Zverev in the final of the 2019 Mexican Open in Acapulco, the biggest match of the Nick Kyrgios vs Alexander Zverev rivalry. The former World No.13 beat the German in straight sets to grab the fifth ATP title of his career.
This proved to be the last match in the duel, so far. They have not squared off on court after their friendship soured.
