There was a time when Nick Kyrgios couldn’t bring himself to summon a single generous word for Novak Djokovic.
But watching him from the commentary box at Melbourne Park, the Australian now offers a rather different angle on his old avowed foe, declaring: “He’s in the conversation for greatest athlete ever with what he’s achieving.”
It’s the kind of outlandish comment which will draw reaction from sports historians who point to the likes of Don Bradman, Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali and a long list of others who have dominated their sport to a greater extent than Djokovic.
Even in tennis, Serena Williams can lay claim to being the greatest of all time in the sport while there are still many who believe Rafael Nadal or Roger Federer have been better than Djokovic even though he has surpassed them on the list of grand slam titles.
Kyrgios was left swooning on Sunday at the manner in which the 36-year-old champion Djokovic kicked off his bid for an 11th Australian Open title, eventually subduing a precocious challenge from 18-year-old Croatian qualifier Dino Prizmic 6-2 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 6-4 victory after four hours.
“Seems like he’s got every shot in the book out and showing us why he’s the greatest player on the planet,” sighed Kyrgios, making his commentary debut on Eurosport while admitting the incredible atmosphere on Rod Laver Arena made him desperate to experience it again back on court after his injury absence.
Novak Djokovic. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Of course, Kyrgios’s ‘bromance’ with a rival he once couldn’t stand has actually been going strong ever since they clashed in the 2022 Wimbledon final – but he was left genuinely astonished that Djokovic might actually be getting better than when the Serb downed him at SW19.
“He’s getting older, his game’s getting better, he’s moving better… incredible. What do you have to do to beat him?” said Kyrgios.
“With no major injury, he definitely could play into his 40s.
“When you’ve achieved so much and become an icon in the sport, everyone wants you, they wanna take you down and they play their best tennis. So every single time Novak Djokovic goes out on to the court, it’s not easy for him. That’s even more credit to him.
“He has to keep studying these young players like Prizmic and keep adapting. Look how his game has adapted over the last five years. He just seems to rise to the occasion every single time.
“Never has a bad day; I suppose today would be one of his bad days – and he’s still winning.
“He was telling me he’s missing his family and if he wins this event, it’s potentially another two weeks away from his beautiful family, but yet he’s still got the same motivation to win. It’s insane what he’s doing.”
Djokovic was told of Kyrgios’s tributes after the match, and told Eurosport: “Great have him around… I don’t know if he enjoys this kind of four-hour matches in the commentary box – but I wish I had his serve for some moments tonight!”
For Djokovic reckoned that it had been “a little bit like looking in the mirror” at the brilliant, resilient youngster Prizmic across the net, for whom he predicted a great future.
Kyrgios was impressed too. “Dino’s got a bit of a swagger, he went toe-to-toe with the greatest of all-time. He’s given Djokovic the longest grand slam first-round match of his career and that’s pretty crazy for an 18-year-old.
“I like him! He’s one of my favourite players after that performance. He should be super-proud of himself but Novak wore him down physically. When everyone else is getting tired, he’s getting better.
“I could feel the energy out there, it’s amazing – and I can’t wait to get back healthy, to feel that once again.”
with AAP
Mozzie1
Roar Rookie
A totally meaningless comment from the crown prince of tennis.
josh
Roar Rookie
I see Nick's started to use the US definition of athlete, that its anyone who plays sport. As much as he seems like flog, I'd happily put Novak as the tennis player, not athlete. In pure athletic feats, Roman Sebrle would be my pick.
Porkchop
Roar Rookie
Good call as well
Tufanooo
Roar Rookie
Jahangir Khan for the mens side of squash. Didn't lose a game for 6 years. Esther Vergeer in women's wheelchair tennis. Check it: 10 year undefeated streak. That included winning 470 matches in a row and dropping just 18 sets. 95 double bagel wins. In fact she won 559 of 560 matches from 2001 to her retirement (just the one loss in 2003). 120 tournament victories in a row. Personally, I'll find that hard to top.
Tufanooo
Roar Rookie
They don't. Gretzky is the GOAT of ice hockey but the gap between the 1st and 2nd best in Ice Hockey isn't anywhere near as close as the gap between Bradman and the next best. Greztky has clearly more points (Goals + Assists) than anyone else, and in fact has more assists than people have G+A combined. But time in the respective games needs to be factored in as well. However, Gretzky also played the 24th most amount of games in the NHL (which has a HUGE player pool over the last 100 years). Bradman is not anywhere near the top of most played list for test cricketers. He's well within the top 1% of the player pool of total games played. Bradman achieved in 52 tests what 99% of players can't achieve in 100 tests.
mrl
Roar Rookie
Heather McKay.
Doc Disnick
Roar Guru
Yeah, but only two countries take ice hockey seriously... professionally, anyway. At least there are three with cricket.
Smiggle Jiggle
Roar Guru
Wayne Gretzky's stats do top The Don.
Porkchop
Roar Rookie
‘The greatest all time’ always makes for interesting conversations. I always preferred the grace of Federer although stats don’t lie . Novak stands alone in male tennis having surpassed Roger & Rafa . As for Williams incredible record, it does not equate to Margaret Court’s . The Don trumps all if you look at a individual completely dominating and the margin to next person.