Nick Kyrgios is one of the most outspoken tennis stars on the planet.
Whether it is on the court or off it, the Australian has never been afraid to say what is on his mind, regardless of the ramifications.
It can be argued that the 30-year-old is tennis’ modern-day version of John McEnroe, who left fans stunned with his on-court antics during his career.
While Nick Kyrgios is still an active player, injuries have significantly limited his time on court over the past two years.
But he has remained in touch with the game during his stints as a pundit and comments on social media and podcast appearances.
What has Nick Kyrgios said about his relationship with John McEnroe?
It can be argued that Kyrgios and McEnroe are cut from the same cloth.
They are both very outspoken while possessing great serves to go with an aggressive and attacking style of play.
The pair have spoken about one another on previous occasions to varying degrees, whie McEnroe appeared on Kyrgios’ Good Trouble podcast and they commentated together at Wimbledon last summer.
During an appearance on talkSPORT radio, Kyrgios opened up on how he feels about McEnroe and whether tennis is lacking big personalities.
“I was a fan of McEnroe. We have had our run-ins before but I think we are on good terms now!,” Kyrgios said. “I do think I am crazier though. I definitely could drink more than him!
“I think it could use some more characters but these guys are professionals and they are doing it their way. I think tennis historically is known to not have too many characters.”
What have Nick Kyrgios and John McEnroe previously said about each other?
Kyrgios previously said he would ‘destroy’ McEnroe if the pair played one another in their prime, and also criticised his commentary at Wimbledon a year ago.
“That’s an easy walk for me. I think so… I’m serving pretty big,” Kyrgios told Piers Morgan Uncensored. “I mean, it’s a different era… I mean, [Roger] Federer, [Rafael] Nadal and Novak [Djokovic] have struggled. So, I don’t know how McEnroe is going to go against returning my serve.”
While watching Kyrgios compete at Wimbledon in 2022 when he reached the final, McEnroe said he would like to have been his coach.
“He’s a good kid, the players like him, he’s well liked in the locker room, he does a lot of charity work. But he’s got demons you know, in a way – we all have this fear of failure and it’s a question of how you best deal with it,” McEnroe said.
“Who should coach Nick Kyrgios? John McEnroe of course but he’s untouchable. Anyway the guy doesn’t need the coach, the guy is a genius out there the way he plays.
“He needs Sigmund Freud to come out of the grave and somehow figure out a way to keep this guy going for a couple of years because we could use him.”
Nick Kyrgios reacts to John McEnroe’s view Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner could beat Rafael Nadal in his prime on clay
Kyrgios is one of the latest to react to McEnroe’s belief that Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner would be favourites to beat Rafael Nadal in his prime on clay.
His comments came after Alcaraz and Sinner’s epic French Open final, in which the Spaniard came from two sets down to defend his title.
In response to McEnroe’s comments, Kyrgios disagreed. “Right now I would lean towards saying no. We are talking about one of the greatest athletes not only in tennis but in any sport,” Kyrgios said.
“Sometimes these older tennis players I think get ahead of themselves a little bit. I think Rafa Nadal is arguably one of the greatest players ever and on clay I would say no.
“Alcaraz and Sinner would not beat Rafa Nadal in his prime. That’s an insane statement now that I think about it.”
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