Many consider Novak Djokovic the greatest player ever, but Nick Kyrgios still becomes frustrated when watching him in the early rounds of Grand Slams.
Kyrgios will make a long-awaited return to professional tennis in the opening week of the 2025 season at the Brisbane International. He will appear at that tournament in preparation for the Australian Open.
The controversial 29-year-old kept himself engaged during his absence with commentary stints at the Australian, Wimbledon, and the French Open. He was praised by many for his insights during matches.
However, Kyrgios cannot resist involving himself in incidents that attract criticism. An example was when he made an unsavory remark on X (formerly Twitter) about Jannik Sinner's girlfriend, Anna Kalinskaya, who Kyrgios used to date.
Respected commentator and analyst Andrea Petkovic slammed Kyrgios for 'self-sabotaging with misogynist nonsense' after the incident and said it distracted from his analysis, which is often very illuminating.
Kyrgios used to consistently criticize Djokovic, especially during the Serbian's Adria Tour, which was held during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, some of the players and many fans became infected with the virus.
However, their relationship is very different now. The two share a friendship, and Kyrgios has interviewed him and been open to playing doubles with the 24-time Grand Slam champion at some stage.
Djokovic decided to skip the ATP Finals, but he will also return to professional action in the first week of the 2025 season to prepare for the Australian Open, the Grand Slam he has won on ten occasions.
Kyrgios commentated on several of Djokovic's matches during his stint as a commentator. He told the AO Show why watching the 37-year-old from the commentary box frustrated him.
"I've done a lot of Novak matches and he frustrates the hell out of me because I hate doing his matches early on in slams because he just plays around with his food for like four hours, and I'm like 'I could've been in my hotel for like an hour and a half ago."
"He'll be up like two sets to love, and then he'll lose the third and start complaining, and then he'll go to his box, and then it'll be like 7-6 in the fourth. And I'm like, 'dude'. And then I'll see him and be like 'do you just enjoy keeping me? Because he knows that I'm in there."
"And then he starts like losing focus. Then I'm like... he frustrates the hell out of me. I hate doing Novak's matches. But I've done a lot of Alcaraz as well, and that's probably one of my favorites to watch because he's so exciting. He always has something up his sleeve the tennis world hasn't seen. He's going to keep evolving."
Although Kyrgios was enjoyable to listen to as a commentator, many fans will be happy he is returning to the court in 2025. The former Wimbledon runner-up wants to win a Grand Slam before he retires, feeling that would silence those who have doubted him over the years.