By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Friday, July 28, 2023
Some of Nick Kyrgios' fiercest feuds are his favorite rivals.
The 2022 Wimbledon finalist responded to a wide array of questions from his followers on Instagram.
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Asked to name his top rivals on tour, Kyrgios replied: "My big rivals on the circuit? Tsitsipas, Nadal and Wawrinka."
The mercurial Kyrgios rode his massive serve and major mind games to topple fourth-seeded Tsitsipas 6-7(2), 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(7) in a wild, crazy and contentious clash at the 2022 Wimbledon. Both men were hit with code violations as Court No. 1 felt like the octagon at times.
Tsitsipas summed up this tennis tempest of sound and flurry as "a circus."
The match saw Kyrgios deploy the underarm tweener serve, some superb drop shots and near constant chatter that unnerved Tsitsipas. The Greek, who belted a ball into the stands and splattered another shot off the back wall, spent a few games trying to tag Kyrgios and eventually accomplished his mission drilling the Aussie in the chest. Tsitsipas later blasted Kyrgios as "a bully" with Kyrgios countering the Greek is "not liked."
Last summer, Kyrgios was on course for a Wimbledon semifinal showdown with Nadal when the Spanish superstar was forced out of The Championships after suffering a seven millimeter tear in his abdominal.
Had their third Wimbledon clash come off, Kyrgios felt it would have been one of the most watched matches of all time given their prior, sometime contentious clashes, including Kyrgios conceding he tried to nail Nadal in the chest with a passing shot.
“We've had some absolute battles on that Centre Court. He's won one against me, and I've won one against him," Kyrgios said of Nadal. “Obviously, we know, two completely different personalities.
"I feel like we respect the hell out of each other, though. I feel like that would be a mouth-watering kind of encounter for everyone around the world. That would probably be the most-watched match of all time. I would argue that.”
Nadal is 6-3 lifetime vs. Kyrgios, who famously upset the king of clay in his 2014 Wimbledon debut before the Spaniard avenged that loss with a 2019 second-round win that spanned four sets.
"The circuit will be better when Nadal and I are back," Kyrgios said in his Instagram Q&A.
In his Montreal win over Wawrinka years back, Kyrgios made a crude comment about WTA star Donna Vekic, who was dating Wawrinka at the time, on court.
Later, the pair reportedly nearly came to blows in the locker room before coaches and players separated them.
Asked about facing Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz in the future, Kyrgios praised the world No. 1 then posed a challenge question to the two-time Grand Slam champion.
"He is a force for sure," Kyrgios said of Alcaraz."I would have loved to see how it would of gone down last year when I was healthy and playing lights out...
"@CarlosAlcaraz what about next year in your town we do an exhibition?"
Photo credit: Rob Newell/CameraSport