Nick Kyrgios does not mince his words when he talks or makes a declaration, but he appears to have backtracked from a recent outlandish statement.
Not long ago, Kyrgios pronounced that he was the best grass-court player on the ATP Tour, which is quite bold for him to say, considering that he is playing in the most competitive era in men's tennis, comprised of multiple Wimbledon champions while he has never won a title on the surface.
In fact, one of those is the most successful grass-court player, Roger Federer, who has won a record eight Wimbledon and a high number of ATP 500 and 250 titles on the lawns.
And just below him is Novak Djokovic who has won six Wimbledon titles. Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal each account for two titles at the All England Club.
And very recently, Kyrgios lost to Murray in a chaotic semifinal in Stuttgart in his first ATP tournament since April in Houston. Now, prior to competing at the 2022 Halle Open, it looks like he has changed his stance on what he thought about his grass-court prowess.
When asked how he would rank himself on the grass at the moment, the Aussie did not categorically state that he was the best of them but that he belonged in the Top five or ten in the world.
"I think on grass I'd be Top 5, Top 10 in the world definitely. If I'm feeling good on grass, I feel really really comfortable on it."
Kyrgios opened up his 2022 Halle campaign with a commanding g6-3, 7-5 win over home player Daniel Altmaier. If the 27-year-old was looking for a test before Wimbledon, he would get one in the second round as he is set to face Stefanos Tsitsipas.
He famously reached the quarterfinal of Wimbledon on his main draw debut back in 2014 and scored a rousing four-set win over Rafael Nadal in the round of 16.