Rod Laver is one of Australia’s greatest-ever tennis figures, both a supremely talented player and a formidable person who pioneered wide-scale changes within the sport.
Without him, alongside Billie Jean King, the wider tennis landscape would likely look much different than it does today. The players certainly wouldn’t be amassing the huge fortunes they currently do had they not existed.
However, what is particularly refreshing about Laver is how he has continued to champion tennis in the many years since his retirement.
And, as recently as 2017, he named the Australian tennis star whom he felt could become the best in the world on one condition.
Rod Laver’s bold ‘best player in the world’ claim about Nick Kyrgios
Of course, he was talking about Nick Kyrgios, who had burst onto the scene just a few years earlier by knocking the world number one, Rafael Nadal, out of Wimbledon as a 19-year-old.
It marked an extraordinary explosion into widespread fame, and perhaps came too early for the talented teenager.
After all, he has admitted the struggles that preceded that famous result, with claims like Laver’s likely not helping.
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It will have come from a place of genuine hope and expectation, though, when the 82-year-old told The Guardian: “Ability-wise, he could be the best tennis player in the world, only he is the one that gets in his way.
“He plays some magnificent tennis but then something gets in the way and he finds himself being challenged by other things, whether behaviour or whatever seems to come up.
“Looking at maybe (his) maturity … he’s still very young on the world tour. I want him to be the best player in the world. We need another great Australian champion.”
John McEnroe even backed Kyrgios to win Wimbledon that year after the result, thus re-emphasising this point about unnecessary expectation.
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Since then, it’s fair to say that Kyrgios has failed to live up to those lofty expectations, despite reaching the Wimbledon final in 2022.
After all, the skilful 30-year-old has only made it past the fourth round on two occasions since 2017, and has missed 11 of the last 12 major events due to injury.
Despite all these setbacks and the hardships faced, Kyrgios remains adamant that he will make a return to competitive tennis.
His comeback trail began last weekend, when he featured in an exhibition match against Ben Shelton. This marked the beginning of a handful of planned appearances before he is due to hopefully return at the Australian Open.
Kyrgios will also face Aryna Sabalenka in a Battle of the Sexes match, in typically controversial fashion.
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The rich talent he has always boasted will not have disappeared during his absence from the sport, but it might take some time for him to get back up to speed with the rigours of the ATP Tour.
However, with how dominant Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have become, leaving the rest of the field in their wake, Kyrgios should feel confident that he could cause an upset or two should he manage to finally stay fit in 2026.
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