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The big statement John McEnroe made about Nick Kyrgios after he stunned Rafael Nadal and beat him at Wimbledon in 2014

Australia's Nick Kyrgios (L) shakes hands with Spain's Rafael Nadal (R) after Kyrgios won their men's singles fourth round match against on day eig...
Credit: Getty Images/CARL COURT/AFP/Graham Denholm
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Nick Kyrgios has often been praised for his talent that has enabled him to beat some of the biggest names in the world.

Kyrgios returned to the ATP Tour at the Brisbane International in January, after spending over 18 months on the injury sidelines due to a wrist injury that he underwent surgery on.

In his return tournament, Kyrgios played doubles with Novak Djokovic alongside the singles tournament.

Despite returning to the match court, Kyrgios faced a major setback and suffered an abdominal injury.

After suffering a straight sets defeat in an uncharacteristic first round loss at the Australian Open, Kyrgios admitted his future is unclear and was unsure of whether he would return to his home major tournament.

Kyrgios has his sights on a return to Wimbledon, the tournament where he made an explosive debut in 2014.

TENNIS-GBR-WIMBLEDON
Photo credit should read ANDREW COWIE/AFP via Getty Images

What John McEnroe said about Nick Kyrgios after he beat Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon in 2014

Ranked at world number 144 at the time, a 19-year-old Kyrgios received a Wimbledon wildcard to make his debut at the tournament.

Kyrgios certainly made this wildcard count, winning his first three matches in style to reach the second week of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time.

This included coming from two sets to love down to beat 13th seed Richard Gasquet, saving a total of nine match points in the process.

As a result of his breakthrough run, Kyrgios would set up a first-time meeting with world number one at the time Rafael Nadal.

Hitting a colossal 37 aces past Nadal, Kyrgios stunned the Spaniard to become the first debutant to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals since Florian Mayer in 2004.

Kyrgios’, 7-6(5) 5-7 7-6(5) 6-3, win over Nadal prompted a big reaction from people who watched the match, including John McEnroe.

When speaking on the BBC, McEnroe claimed that Kyrgios reminded him of Boris Becker and suggested that he could even go onto win the tournament.

“We keep saying, ‘Who’s the next guy?’, and I think we found that guy right now,” said McEnroe. “I’ve been hearing about this guy for years. I’d only seen him play a little bit.

“But that was absolutely stunning, to see what he did to the world number one. How did he keep that up?

“This is where it gets a little tricky. But he actually had this feeling about him. I could see it from the commentators’ box, that he absolutely believed he was going to win this match, and he’s acting to me like he can win this tournament.

“The last guy I saw like this is… Boris Becker, that young teenager, no fear whatsoever – ‘no matter what comes my way I’m going to be better than them’.”

Kyrgios went onto lose his quarter-final match against eighth seed Milos Raonic, but it was clear how much of an impact he had made following his breakthrough at SW19.

Wimbledon 2014Result
First RoundKyrgios beat Stephane Robert, 7-6(2) 7-6(1) 6(6)-7 6-2
Second RoundKyrgios beat Richard Gasquet (13), 3-6 6(4)-7 6-4 7-5 10-8
Third RoundKyrgios beat Jiri Vesely (WC), 3-6 6-3 7-5 6-2
Fourth Round Kyrgios beat Rafael Nadal (2), 7-6(5) 5-7 7-6(5) 6-3
Quarter-finalsMilos Raonic (8) beat Kyrgios, 6(4)-7 6-2 6-4 7-6(4)

What happened to Nick Kyrgios at Wimbledon since 2014?

Kyrgios and Nadal have had quite a rivalry since then, with some tense encounters since their first Wimbledon match.

This includes a rematch on grass in 2019, with Nadal getting Wimbledon revenge over Kyrgios.

Kyrgios has had mixed results since making his Wimbledon debut, having reached a career-high ranking of world number 13.

Despite his inconsistency, the Australian has improved on his quarter-final at the grass court major, with Kyrgios reaching the Wimbledon final in 2022.

He was beaten by Djokovic in his only major final to date, and has not played a single match at Wimbledon since then due to a variety of injury struggles.

Kyrgios could be making a final appearance at Wimbledon this year, with The Championships getting underway on June 30.