Naomi Osaka and Nick Kyrgios get along very well, as the Japanese player described the Australian as a 'brother from a different universe.'
The friendship between Osaka and Kyrgios goes back a few years, and it's only grown recently. There are a lot of connecting dots between them in tennis and even outside of tennis.
They have similar interests, are of similar age, and just vibe well with one another. Kyrgios also put a lot of trust into that friendship with Osaka, investing in some of her endeavors and signing with her talent agency.
He also does a podcast for her production company which she was a guest in recently. During that episode, they talked about many things, and Osaka touched upon their relationship and how close she is with Kyrgios.
"I've seen you on TV and around the scene and stuff... and I've always thought to myself, like, 'That's like my brother from a different universe,' you know? Because there's not a lot of melanated folks in tennis? So, I just kind of feel an alliance, sometimes?"
Kyrgios is very fond of Osaka and her story, as they both battled mental health and quite publicly so. There are some differences, though, as the Australian pointed out that they manage stress very differently.
"Yeah, definitely. Obviously I resonate with some of the things you've done in the sport. I feel like the difference between you and I is you've dealt with that whirlwind a little better than I did. I was, I guess, one of the first 'NextGen' player to come on the scene and have success against these big players."
It was a pretty interesting chat on the Good Trouble with Nick Kyrgios podcast between two players who share many similarities, and two players who haven't spent a lot of time on the tennis courts recently.