Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios was sidelined for 18 months due to injury, but the former Wimbledon finalist remained involved in the tennis scene as he performed commentating duties for BBC. However, Kyrgios revealed he was not too fond of doing commentary for any matches involving rival Novak Djokovic.
Kyrgios spent the bulk of the 2023 and 2024 season on the sidelines, as he dealt with knee and wrist injuries. During his time off and recuperation, the Canberra native spent some time doing commentary for BBC and Eurosport. Kyrgios was heavily involved during Grand Slam matches, and was given the opportunity to commentate on matches involving several of his ATP colleagues.
Working Djokovic matches was frustrating, says Kyrgios
With a return at the 2025 Australian Open in his sights, the former World No.13 appeared on "The Sit Down" podcast to discuss how he spent his time off. Kyrgios admitted to enjoying his role as a pundit, but disclosed he did not like commentating on Djokovic's matches due to the Serbian's style of play.
"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," said Kyrgios. "Because he just plays around with his food for like four hours and I'm like 'I could've been in my hotel an hour and a half ago', and he'll be up two sets to love. "Then he'll lose the third and start complaining and then he'll go to his box, and there will be 7-6 in the fourth and I'm like 'dude, do you just enjoy keeping me...', because he knows that I'm in there and then he starts losing focus. He frustrates the hell out of me and I hate doing Novak's matches."
Kyrgios last faced the 24-time Grand Slam champion at the 2022 Wimbledon final, where Djokovic rallied from a set down to prevail in four sets. With the Serbian shifting his focus to Grand Slams for the foreseeable future, it's quite possible the duo might lock horns again at another Major event.
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