By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Friday, July 8, 2022

Respect has to be earned between rivals on the ATP Tour, and that has been the case with Nick Kyrgios and Novak Djokovic over the years. In his younger years, Kyrgios made a habit of popping off about Djokovic, criticizing the world-beating Serb whenever he had the opportunity, but these days the pair are on much better – friendly – terms.



Kyrgios spoke to reporters about the evolution of the pair’s relationship on Friday at Wimbledon.

It’s obviously a hot topic as the Aussie could potentially face Djokovic in Sunday’s final at SW19, if he can defeat Norrie in semi-final action on Friday.

“We definitely have a bit of a bromance now, which is weird,” Kyrgios said. “I think everyone knows there was no love lost for a while there. I think it was healthy for the sport. I think every time we played each other, there was hype around it. It was interesting for the media, the people watching, all that.”

Things took a turn when Kyrgios showed public support for Djokovic earlier this year, when the Australian government put the Serb through the ringer, detaining him and eventually deporting him.

“Although he has been saying bad stuff about me for years, he stood by me,” Djokovic told Serbian journalist Sasa Ozmo this week at Wimbledon. “When I was going through the most difficult period, he was one of the rare few people who spoke on my behalf publicly. I am very grateful for that.”

Kyrgios concurs.

“I felt like I was almost the only kind of player and someone to stand up for him with all that kind of drama at Australian Open,” the Aussie said. “I feel like that's where respect is kind of earned. Not on the tennis court, but I feel like when a real life crisis is happening and someone stands up for you.”

“We actually message each other on DMs in Instagram now and stuff. It's real weird. Actually, like, earlier in the week, he was like, ‘Hopefully I'll see you Sunday.’”

Kyrgios holds the 2-0 edge over the Serb, but both meetings came in 2017 when Djokovic was nowhere near the top of his form. A lot has changed since then, both on the court and off.