"No one ever did it in a Grand Slam": Nick Kyrgios opens up about playing against 'Big Four' in their prime

Australia’s Nick Kyrgios has opened up about playing against prime ‘Big Four’. The original Big Three consisted of the likes of Switzerland’s Roger Federer, Spain’s Rafael Nadal, Serbia’s Novak Djokovic and Britain's Andy Murray. The three dominated men’s tennis for a good part of the last two decades, and each has won at least 20 Grand Slams. On the other hand, Murray went on to win three Grand Slams and a couple of Olympic gold medals.

Kyrgios, who has recently returned to the court after spending nearly two years on the sidelines because of injury concerns, was featured in a UTS video which was shared on the social media platform Instagram, where he spoke about how difficult it has been to play against the Big Three in their absolute prime.

The former world number 13 stated that it was so hard not to play against the Big Three, but the competition was so tough as there were other players in their prime too, such as Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka, Croatia’s Marin Cilic and France’s Wilfred Tsonga.

"I remember when I was making like fourth rounds and quarterfinals of a Grand Slam and I was like, by far the worst player in the draw," said Kyrgios. "Like, one year in Australian Open, it was fourth round and then the players were like, obviously the four guys: Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Murray, like in their prime. Then you had Wawrinka in his prime, Cilic in his prime, Monfils, Tsonga, Gasquet, Berdych, Del Potro, Nishikori. I was like, I’m f**ked. That era was like, I was like, I’m not winning. Like I got chopped against Murray fourth round so many times and now I think it’s a good opportunity. I felt I could win but I never felt like I was going to win a Slam. Not with those four in their prime. It was impossible. How are you going to beat three or four of them to win? It’s not possible. No one’s ever done it. Like Nalbandian did it one time in a Masters event. No one ever did it in a Grand Slam.”