"This one hurt" - Nick Kyrgios reminisces about Laver Cup epic against Roger Federer
Nick Kyrgios recently reminisced about his "monumental" encounter against Roger Federer at the 2017 Laver Cup.
A lot was riding on the match between the duo, with Team Europe leading 12-9 on points at the time. A Federer win would have guaranteed the Europeans their first-ever Laver Cup title, but a win for Kyrgios on the other hand would have meant that the clash would be forced to a winner-takes-all doubles decider.
The match lived up to the hype, making a strong claim for being arguably the best match of the competition. Federer fought back from a set down to send it into a match tie-breaker.
The Swiss maestro recovered from an 8-5 deficit and saved a match point at 9-8 in the tiebreaker to finally seal the epic 4-6 7-6(6) 11-9 and bring the first-ever title home to Europe.
The 28-year-old Australian took to his social media on Wednesday, February 27, to share an archived video of the match. He rued the match point that he had and also admitted that the loss "hurt" a lot.
"Had a match point, this one hurt," Kyrgios wrote on his Instagram alongside the video.
He admitted shortly after the match that not being able to convert all the opportunities continued to haunt him.
"Obviously having a match point and not taking it was grueling," Kyrgios said. "It still hurts me to this day as well. You know if I won that match it would come down to the deciding doubles with me and Jack."
Nick Kyrgios claims his epic against Roger Federer set the benchmark for the Laver Cup
Nick Kyrgios claimed in a video in 2021 that his epic against Roger Federer at the 2017 Laver Cup "set the tone" for all future Laver Cup editions.
"I feel like that really set the tone for any Laver Cup that goes ahead with or without me or with or without Roger, for many years to come," Kyrgios was quoted as saying in the video.
The Australian also shared that people talk to him about the "monumental match" to this day.
"That deciding match against Federer (on his favorite memories of the Laver Cup)," Kyrgios said. "That was a match that to this day people talk about to me and it was a monumental match."