Kyrgios will take his explosive off-court kind to Rod Laver Arena tonight towards his outdated sparring companion turned greatest bud.
In what shall be his first hitout of the 12 months, Kyrgios has been practising his serves on social media, taking over all comers – together with a trio of Australian tennis legends – forward of his residence grand slam, a match he believes he can win in 2023.
Kyrgios’ operating battle with the nation’s greats began on the eve of the 2022 Wimbledon last towards Djokovic.
“The greats of Australian tennis, they haven’t always been the nicest to me, personally,” he stated. “They haven’t always been supportive and they haven’t been supportive these two weeks. So it’s hard for me to read things they say about me. It’s pretty sad because I don’t get any support from … the past greats.”
Pat Cash supported Kyrgios’ claims, questioning Tennis Australia’s resolution to stage a charity exhibition three days out from the beginning of the Australian Open.
“In what country, in what grand slam – would you have Wimbledon suddenly pulling out Centre Court or Court 1 because Andy Murray needed a practice match?” he informed SEN Sportsday.
“It’s hard to believe, they certainly wouldn’t do it at the French Open. There’s kids day and whatever and you go and play that. At the French Open it wouldn’t happen.
“They’ve bent over backwards to help Nick to get some matches and to do this, I don’t know.”
The exhibition additionally drew the ire of tennis journalist Luke Dennehy who mocked the match on Twitter: “Wow @NickKyrgios and @DjokerNole match on Friday sold out in 58 minutes. Wow!”
Kyrgios responded to the tweet in typical style: “Wow Nick Kyrgios is bad for the sport! Wow what a disgrace, a national embarrassment! How dare he sell out another stadium, the arrogance.”
There’s little question the polarising Aussie shall be making an attempt to win over followers earlier than the title tilt.
Originally printed as Nick Kyrgios v Novak Djokovic begin time, TV, stay rating, Australian Open news
