Nick Kyrgios has talked up the possibility of playing Jannik Sinner at the Australian Open, but former Grand Slam doubles champion Nicolas Mahut does not think the Italian will struggle in that matchup.
Fans will watch Kyrgios compete at a Grand Slam for the first time since the 2022 US Open at the 2025 Australian Open. His only ATP appearance in the last two years was a failed comeback attempt at the 2023 Stuttgart Open.
Kyrgios had been absent with severe wrist and knee problems that threatened to end his career. The first tournament of the 29-year-old's comeback will be at the Brisbane International, starting December 30th.
Novak Djokovic and Kyrgios are also confirmed to play doubles in Brisbane. That is an extraordinary turnaround, considering how fractured their relationship was up until a few years ago.
Kyrgios used to regularly criticize Djokovic, most fiercely when the Serbian held the Adria Tour during the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to Djokovic, Grigor Dimitrov, and others contracting and spreading the virus to others.
While Kyrgios used to have issues with Djokovic, the 2022 Wimbledon runner-up hated Rafael Nadal even more. However, he also changed his mind about the now-retired Spaniard, expressing sadness when Nadal retired.
Sinner is now the target of Kyrgios' wrath. The Italian generated worldwide headlines a few days before the US Open in August when it was revealed that he twice tested positive for the banned substance clostebol.
That case is still ongoing after the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) appealed the International Tennis Integrity Agency's decision to clear him of any wrongdoing. WADA feels he bears some fault for the accidental contamination from his physiotherapist at the time.
Kyrgios has criticized Sinner and Iga Swiatek, who accepted a one-month ban after testing positive for trimetazidine. The seven-time ATP title winner recently outlined what annoys him the most in those cases.
While Kyrgios stated he has nothing personal against Swiatek, the same cannot be said of Sinner. He promised to show the Italian no respect and to turn the crowd against him if they met at the Australian Open.
Those fierce remarks have not gone down well among some. Laura Robson, who worked with Kyrgios as an analyst at the 2024 Australian Open, does not want to see respect being lost and thinks it could be problematic.
Mahut echoed those sentiments, but he also went further. The Frenchman told Eurosport that Sinner would beat Kyrgios comfortably at the Australian Open, no matter how much the home player tries to whip up the crowd.
“I don’t like these kind of statements. He has the right to have an opinion on Sinner's positive test, everyone is free to think what they want, but to inflame the situation like this… Sinner has never disrespected anyone, he is the world No. 1, so it's unnecessary.”
“I think all things before the game are trickier for Sinner to do than the game itself. Kyrgios hasn't played for a long time and of course you can dream of the title at the Australian Open, but you also have to remain realistic. Even if the crowd gets excited, Sinner is going to win that with 6-3’s."
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