Nick Kyrgios on Carlos Alcaraz and Holger Rune: "Wish I could turn the clock back, be one of those guys"
Nick Kyrgios lavished praise on Carlos Alcaraz and Holger Rune, saying that he wished to turn back the clock and be in their position.
The Aussie is one of the many players who featured in the second season of Break Point, Netflix's tennis docuseries. During the second episode of the series, Kyrgios spoke about his admiration at young players breaking through.
The 28-year-old said that it was fun to see Alcaraz and Rune dominating the tennis scene and wished to be in that young phase of his career.
"Love seeing all these players breaking through. And obviously, seeing guys like Rune and Alcaraz kind of take over it, its been fun. I kind of wish I could turn the clock back, be one of these guys," he said.
Kyrgios said that both Carlos Alcaraz and Holger Rune would win "a bunch" of Grand Slams.
"They're going to win some Slams for sure but I think Alcaraz will win a bunch, Rune will win a bunch. They're the next crop of guys to start that kind of era," he said.
Alcaraz and Rune have both attained success throughout their respective young careers so far. While the Spaniard has won two Grand Slams and occupy the World No.1 spot, the Dane has won a Masters 1000 event and reached the top 5 of the ATP rankings.
Alcaraz is scheduled to start his 2024 season at the Australian Open, while Rune competed at the Brisbane International last week as the top seed. He reached the final of the ATP 250 tournament before losing 7-6(5), 6-4 to second seed Grigor Dimitrov.
Carlos Alcaraz and Holger Rune have faced one another thrice so far
Carlos Alcaraz and Holger Rune have faced one another thrice so far, with the Spaniard leading 2-1 in the head-to-head.
The first meeting between the two came in the round-robin stage of the 2021 Next Gen ATP Finals, with Alcaraz winning 4-3(6), 4-2, 4-0. Their second encounter came in the quarterfinals of the Paris Masters, which Rune led 6-3, 6-6 before the Spaniard retired due to an injury.
The most recent encounter between the two came in the quarterfinals of the 2023 Wimbledon Championships, with Alcaraz winning 7-6(3), 6-4, 6-4 to reach the semifinals. He went on to win the tournament by defeating Novak Djokovic 1-6, 7-6(6), 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 to clinch his second Grand Slam title.