Nick Kyrgios has emerged as a compelling co-commentator at the Australian Open, with his revelations continuing to offer up plenty of talking points.
During his stint on the microphone with discovery+ and Eurosport during Alex De Minuar’s match against Andrey Rublev, Kyrgios struggled to contain his laughter as he reflected on players he faced in the junior ranks who are at the top of the game now.
Kyrgios was a top junior player and faced most of the big names who are currently challenging for the top titles in the game and when he was asked about those experiences, he recalled his early meetings with Daniil Medvedev.
The Russia star has gone on to become a US Open champion and he also topped the ATP rankings, but Kyrgios was not expecting him to make any progress in the game with his unconventional game style and shots.
“It’s crazy to see all these guys that I played juniors with playing so well now, it’s awesome,” reflected Kyrgios.
“One guy for me that I thought was going to be horrific was Medvedev.
“I played him in juniors at Roehampton (in England) and I beat him like 6-3 6-3. I was like the dominant junior and this guy was just terrible.
“He had the worst technique I’ve ever seen. I honestly said this guy should just give it up. There is no way he is going to make it with all these things.
“Then the guy becomes No 1 in the world and a Grand Slam champion. It’s so funny. He was crazy as well.
“Now you see Medvedev and he is so comfy playing on big courts. I just never saw it when he was a junior.”
As he watched Rublem struggling to control his temper on court, the discussion inevitably switched to the temper issues Kyrgios displayed throughout his career.
The Australian is often hailed as one of the most gifted players of his generation, but his anger issues on court often got the better of him when the pressure was applied.
Commentator Nick Lester asked Kyrgios whether he ever worked with sports psychologists and he offered up a brutally honest response.
“Nine of them!” he said while chuckling.
“I just don’t think I could have been helped. It is what it is. I’m a hard person to deal with… on the court, that is.
“I have ongoing conversations with about ten different personalities in my head when I am out there.”
Kyrgios has also offered up some compelling details about players he knows so well, as he has revived the traditional role of a co-commentator offering insight to viewers from their own experiences of playing against the game’s current stars.
The 2022 Wimbledon runner-up was asked to give his views on the prospect of an Australian Open quarter-final between Novak Djokovic and Taylor Fritz and provided this interesting insight.
“Me and Taylor are actually really good mates we like to keep it pretty low-key off-court,” he added.
“He’s a gamer, he just goes back to his room, plays some games and gets some rest.
“I called his first match and honestly it wasn’t great, there were lots of things he needed to improve on. I try and help him out as much as I can, we go back and forth on messages a lot on Instagram.
“I tell him he needs to come forward because his ground strokes are so big he needs to be able to come forward and put those volleys away.
“He’s really struggled against that match-up against Novak in the past because he isn’t that comfortable moving forward, but I think he’ll improve that and it’ll be an interesting one.”
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