"The most talented player I've seen in the last 10 years" - McEnroe has high praise for Kyrgios

Despite falling to World No.2 Daniil Medvedev in the second round of the Australian Open, Nick Kyrgios is still seen as "the most talented player" by tennis great John McEnroe.

Kyrgios fell in four sets to Medvedev on Rod Laver Arena, although the Aussie did put on a show for the partisan ground. The former World No.13 fell in similar fashion to Dominic Thiem at last year's event and Rafael Nadal in 2020.

McEnroe is concerned Kyrgios will never fulfil his potential, having seen him slip to 115th in the ATP rankings after featuring sporadically since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

“I like Nick as a person, I coached him at the Laver Cup four times. He’s a good kid,” he told Alize Lim and Mats Wilander in the Eurosport Cube.

“But it’s tough to watch because he’s so talented, so great for the game. I would love to see him step up and be in the top five or six players, where I think he belongs.”

When asked what stopped Kyrgios from winning tough matches, McEnroe replied: “Between his ears, that’s what’s missing.

“He’s got great game. I would say tennis-wise, the most talented player I’ve seen in the last 10 years. But you also have to bring what it takes to compete on a day in, day out basis.”

McEnroe conceded that Kyrgios was not doing enough to rival the top players at the biggest tournaments.

“Look at Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. These consummate pros who do whatever it takes to win and they look at Nick, they realise he’s great for the game,” he continued.

“He’s got a personality, he’s a smart kid, he’s a good kid, everyone likes him. He’s a fantastic talent but you’ve got to be able to put it together, you’ve got to be able to compete on a regular basis and unfortunately Nick hasn’t been able to do that for a while.”