"I never thought that I'd be really good friends with Novak Djokovic" - Nick Kyrgios on off-court relationship with Serb
Nick Kyrgios recently opened up about the evolution of his relationship with Novak Djokovic. There was a time when Kyrgios and Djokovic had their differences, but nowadays, the Australian and the Serb seem to get along just fine.
Tensions between Nick Kyrgios and Novak Djokovic surfaced at the 2021 Australian Open. In the buildup to the hardcourt Major, Djokovic had written a letter to tournament director Craig Tiley, containing suggestions to ease COVID-19 quarantine restrictions. Kyrgios did not approve of the letter and used a rather distasteful word to criticize the Serb.
The Australian had slammed Djokovic in 2020 as well after a tennis event organized by the Serb amid rising COVID-19 cases led to several participating players and fans testing positive for the viral respiratory illness. Djokovic did not react to the stinging criticism from Kyrgios initially but responded at a press conference ahead of the 2021 Australian Open.
"My respect goes to him for the tennis he's playing. I think he's a very talented guy, he's got a big game and he's proven that he has a quality to beat any player in the world. Off the court, I don't have much respect for him, to be honest. That's where I'll close it. I don't really have any further comments for him and his own comments for me or anything else he's trying to do," Djokovic said.
Kyrgios was later asked about his thoughts on Djokovic's take at a press conference of his own. The Australian expressed surprise, suggesting that he would understand the Serb's perspective had the criticism been based on Kyrgios' controversial on-court history.
The tensions seemed to ease amid Djokovic's controversial 2022 Australian Open vaccination saga, which ended with the Serb being deported from Australia. Kyrgios came out in support of Djokovic at the time, and since then, the two contested a Major final at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships and seem to have become fast friends off the court.
Recently, Nick Kyrgios spoke up about his relationship with Novak Djokovic on the Tennis Insider Club podcast. The Australian also briefly revisited facing the Serb in the Wimbledon 2022 final.
"The fact that I played a Slam final with Novak at Wimbledon is crazy, because we're so different that now we're like friends and it's amazing and I get to hit with him and help him, it's pretty cool," Nick Kyrgios said (at 9:29).
The former World No. 13 went on to talk about how the two keep exchanging messages and memes regularly.
"Yeah, it's crazy. I never thought that I'd be really good friends with Novak Djokovic at all, and it's not just on the courts. It's like, we text each other, we send ridiculous memes and all this stuff on Instagram," Nick Kyrgios added (at 9:51).
Djokovic and Kyrgios shared a lighthearted on-court moment recently at the 2024 US Open.
Novak Djokovic poked fun at himself over his faltering serve during an on-court interview with Nick Kyrgios at US Open 2024
Novak Djokovic's ill-fated 2024 US Open campaign saw him secure a walkover into the third round after compatriot Laslo Djere retired with an injury during their second-round clash. Even though Djokovic was comfortably leading Djere when the latter retired, the former struggled with his serve.
After Djere's mid-match retirement, Djokovic assessed his serve during an on-court interview with Nick Kyrgios, who was covering the hardcourt Major as an analyst and commentator for ESPN. The Serb humorously suggested that every player on the ATP Tour can't aspire to Kyrgios' own high standards of serving.
"Over 2 hours for 2 sets. I served awful. Playing without a serve, you have to grind and run. Not everyone serves like you. I guess I have to rely on my baseline game," Djokovic said.
As it turned out, Djokovic's serve struggles continued in the third round, where he was stunned by Kyrgios' compatriot Alexei Popyrin.