Nick Kyrgios: "I think Carlos Alcaraz is doing enough for that age, Novak Djokovic is obviously superhuman"
Nick Kyrgios has heaped praise on both Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic, calling the latter "superhuman".
The Aussie joined Tennis Channel as a commentator during the ATP Finals. He was asked by former World No. 1 Jim Courier if anything during the current season surprised him, giving the examples of Alcaraz's Wimbledon triumph and Djokovic's dominance.
Kyrgios responded by praising both Alcaraz and Djokovic. The Aussie said that while people would expect more from the Spaniard, he was doing well for such a young age. Kyrgios also called Djokovic "superhuman" and an "alien" who was from another planet.
"To be this young and dominating the way he (Alcaraz) has I think is incredible. There's always going to be people saying, 'We want more, we want more', but you've got to be patient with him, I think he's doing enough for that age. Novak is obviously superhuman, he is an alien from another planet," the Aussie said.
Kyrgios went on to praise Holger Rune for his recent performances after a period of struggle while also lauding the consistency of the likes of Andrey Rublev, Daniil Medvedev, and Alexander Zverev. He then called Stefanos Tsitsipas "one of the best strikers of a tennis ball".
"All the other guys, Rune, pulled it together towards the end of the year, he went through a bit of a struggle period, pulled it back, that's great to see, I like him. Obviously, Rublev, Medvedev, Zverev, these guys are just so consistent all the time. Tsitsipas, obviously one of the best ball strikers that we have," Kyrgios said.
Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz have both won one match at ATP Finals 2023
Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz are the top two seeds at the ATP Finals and both have won one out of two matches in the tournament in Turin so far.
Djokovic started his title defense at the year-end tournament by defeating eighth seed Holger Rune 7-6(4), 6-7(1), 6-3. He followed this up with a 7-5, 6-7(5), 7-6(2) defeat to local boy and fourth seed Jannik Sinner.
The Serb will next face ninth seed Hubert Hurkacz, who replaced Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Green Group after the Greek retired from his match against Holger Rune due to a back injury, thus withdrawing from the ATP Finals. Djokovic and Hurkacz will face one another for the seventh time, with the Serb coming out on top in each of their six prior meetings.
Carlos Alcaraz started the ATP Finals with a 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-4 defeat to seventh seed Alexander Zverev but bounced back by defeating fifth seed Andrey Rublev 7-5, 6-2 to keep his semifinal hopes alive.
The Spaniard's final round-robin fixture will come against third seed Daniil Medvedev, who already booked his place in the knockout stages with two wins in as many matches.