Nick Kyrgios calls Federer, Nadal, Djokovic & Murray "once in a decade athletes", says he's not "as passionate or driven" as the Big 4
During a recent appearance on the No Boundaries podcast, Nick Kyrgios described the 'Big 4' of tennis as "once in a decade" athletes. The mercurial Australian also spoke about his own career and experience playing with Serena Williams.
Kyrgios was once touted as the next big thing in men's tennis, but his lack of commitment and rather casual attitude towards the sport has prevented him from fulfilling his potential.
The Australian, however, feels he has achieved his main goals, which were to stay healthy, help those in need and attain financial freedom.
"Every single day of my life I deal with people telling me how to be, how to train or how to hit a forehand. I feel like as a 26-year-old I'm financially in a pretty good spot, I help a lot of people, have a lot of options, I'm healthy, I've got great friends and those were my goals growing up. I wasn't thinking about winning Grand Slams. I just wanted to have fun," Kyrgios said.
Kyrgios reckons the constant grind of the ATP Tour has made the sport rather monotonous. However, he was quick to hail the Big 4 -- Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray -- for their commitment and dedication to tennis.
"There's no chance that Federer or Nadal or Novak or Murray doesn't love it. Like if you watch Murray's documentary, he's having phone calls in the middle of the night at 3 am to his team saying, 'I'm scared to not play, like I don't know what I'm going to do without the sport.' That's not me," the Australian added.
"I love the game but I'm not passionate or driven as they are. They're like once in a generation, once in a decade athletes."
Kyrgios, however, stressed that he wouldn't respect any particular player more just because they're dedicated.
"I wouldn't say I give respect just because they are driven. I wouldn't say I respect them more. I just think that everyone's different. Like for instance Tsitsipas will every single day he's doing everything, will dedicate his life to playing at the Grand Slams, like diet wise, he's doing yoga, he's stretching, he's gymming and I might not be doing that. But I wouldn't say I respect him more for doing this. It's just everyone's different," Kyrgios said.
"It was the most uncomfortable experience for me" - Nick Kyrgios on playing doubles with Serena Williams
During the podcast, Kyrgios was quizzed on who he considers the best ball-striker on the WTA tour at the moment. The Australian said he was pretty impressed with Amanda Anisimova, following which the conversation shifted to another power-hitter, Serena Williams.
The Australian had teamed up with the 23-time Slam champion in the 2014 edition of the International Tennis Premier League to play mixed doubles.
Speaking about the partnership, Kyrgios said it was the "most uncomfortable experience" of his tennis career.
"I’ve hit with Serena before, I played mixed doubles with her at IPTL and it was the most uncomfortable experience for me because she was trying to do everything. And I was like ‘I’m better than you'."
Kyrgios also played mixed doubles with Serena's sister, Venus Williams, at Wimbledon this year. The pair won their first-round match before withdrawing from the tournament due to an injury suffered by Kyrgios.
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