Nick Kyrgios hails Novak Djokovic as 'greatest athlete ever' for three reasons after Australian Open win

Nick Kyrgios hails Novak Djokovic as 'greatest athlete ever' for three reasons after Australian Open win

WATCH NOW: Sports round-up as Nick Kyrgios makes big Novak Djokovic claim

Lewis Winter

By Lewis Winter


Published: 14/01/2024

- 17:40

The Australian is trying his hand at punditry while recovering from injury

Nick Kyrgios has put his case forward in naming Novak Djokovic as the greatest athlete of all time.

The Australian commentated on the world No 1's victory in the first round of the Australian Open on Sunday.


Djokovic came through a difficult match against 18-year-old Dino Prizmic at Rod Laver Arena.

Prizmic, participating in his first-ever Grand Slam, won the second set and had a break in the third before eventually succumbing to his Serbian opponent.

Novak Djokovic and Nick Kyrgios

Novak Djokovic has been labelled the greatest athlete of all time by Nick Kyrgios

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Djokovic is aiming to win his record-extending 11th title in Melbourne over the next fortnight.

He would also overtake Margaret Court as having won the most Grand Slam singles titles by any player if he is victorious.

Kyrgios is in no doubt that Djokovic is the greatest male tennis player to have stepped foot on court.

But he has also thrown his name into the conversation as the best athlete there has been.

The Australian gave three reasons for his explanation, the first two being the 'intangibles' of tennis, as well as the extensive travelling players are forced to do.

Kyrgios said on Eurosport: "I think he's in the conversation for greatest athlete ever, with what he's achieving.

"As I alluded to before, the intangibles of this sport are like no other.

"Name me another sport where you can potentially be on the court for an hour and a half or five hours.

"Travelling the world like we do, it's absurd what he's been able to do."

Kyrgios named motivation as the third reason behind his verdict on Djokovic.

He claims it is 'insane' how determined the 36-year-old is to continue to win major tournaments.

Kyrgios added: "[He] never has a bad day. Today's one of his bad days and he's still winning.

"Definitely [the motivation has to be there]. He was telling me he misses his family, his family's not here watching him and he says if he potentially wins this event, it's another two weeks away from his beautiful family.

"That's something that's important to him so he's dealing with many things on his plate.

"He's still able to put them behind him and produce this type of tennis. That's not normal.

"Most athletes want to go and see their family but he's out here writing history. It's insane."

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Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic was victorious in his opening Australian Open match

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Kyrgios was impressed with what he saw from qualifier Prizmic, who gave Djokovic his longest-ever first-round match at a Grand Slam.

He is expecting big things from the teenager after his breakthrough performance.

Kyrgios said: "That was four hours of pure entertainment but Novak, the world No 1, that was too much experience, too much composure in some clutch moments but a round of applause for the youngster, what a moment.

"Novak came out solid as a rock and I thought, ‘Oh no this one is going to go pretty fast’.

"Then he went to a level that not many people can go to. Novak asked a question and he raised his level.

"Then he had a couple of opportunities he didn’t take in the third then Novak had a stranglehold in the fourth.

Novak Djokovic and Dino Prizmic

Novak Djokovic was given a tough test by Dino Prizmic

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"As soon as I saw him strutting his thing, he reminded me of that Holger Rune-style energy.

"That’s the longest match in the first round of a slam in Novak’s career, that’s pretty crazy for an 18-year-old.

"I like him, he’s one of my favourite players after that performance. I’d give him some serious energy!"

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