Novak Djokovic has kicked off the Australian Open thoughts video games, failing to say Nick Kyrgios in an inventory of contenders to with the primary grand slam of the yr.
The 21-times grand slam champion was requested who he thought-about to be the Australian Open title contenders in an interview with Aussie tennis nice Todd Woodbridge earlier this week.
Recapping the dialog on Thursday, Woodbridge informed The Today Show how the snub went down.
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“I asked him about who he thinks the (Australian Open) contenders are, and he went through (Rafael) Nadal and (Jannik) Sinner and (Casper) Ruud and I said ‘no Kyrgios?’, Woodbridge said.
“He just smiled and said ‘of course there’s Nick Kyrgios and we know what he can do’.
“Then he just moved on and he said ‘I hope he’s ready, he hasn’t had a great preparation.’”
Woodbridge instructed it was a deliberate ploy by the world No. 5 to get inside his Aussie rival’s head.
“(Djokovic) laid a few things out for Nick to think about… which is a bit of locker room talk and jargon about getting in each other’s heads and they like to do that those two, it makes some good drama for us all.”
World No. 13 Kyrgios has been in career-best type in current months, having reached the Wimbledon remaining in 2022 the place he subsequently misplaced to Djokovic in 4 units.
However he’s been battling with a persistent ankle harm in current months and needed to withdraw from the Adelaide International in January in a bid to get his physique proper for the Australian Open.
It means he hasn’t performed a aggressive match since he appeared in an ATP occasion in Tokyo final October.
The 27-year-old Sydneysider’s physique will get its first massive check of the summer time when he takes on Djokovic in a charity match on the Rod Laver Arena on Friday night.
Tickets for the blockbuster occasion went on sale at noon on Tuesday — they usually had been scorching property, promoting out in 58 minutes amid unbelievable demand.
That prompted Kyrgios to take a fiery dig at his critics who typically complain he’s ‘bad for tennis’.
“Wow Nick Kyrgios is bad for the sport! Wow what a disgrace, a national embarrassment! How dare he sell out another stadium, the arrogance,” a sarcastic Kyrgios wrote.
All tickets had been priced at $20, with proceeds going to the Australian Tennis Foundation.
The first Grand Slam of 2023 begins subsequent Monday, and can see nine-time Melbourne champion Djokovic return to the event for the primary time following his ban a yr in the past.
The famously fiery Australian Kyrgios as soon as labelled the Serbian “a tool”, however publicly provided his help final yr when Djokovic was deported over his Covid vaccination standing.
“I wasn’t his favourite guy – let’s say it that way – for many years,” Djokovic mentioned in Adelaide final week. “But he was one of the very few that stood by me last year, and I respect that and appreciate that.
“In those moments you can actually see who truly supports you and who is by your side and who goes with, I guess, the flow of the society and the pressures that media puts on you.
“He was giving me undivided support in the moments where I was being challenged a lot, and him as an Australian, I respected that a lot. Since then, our relationship has changed for better.”
Kyrgios mentioned his help for Djokovic in a current interview with comic Jon Bernard.
