Nick Kyrgios on next Australian Open opponent Dominic Thiem: ‘He trains like an absolute animal’

Shahida Jacobs
February 11, 2021

Nick Kyrgios admits he is “hurting thinking about playing” Dominic Thiem in the next round of the Australian Open, describing the Austrian as “super physical”.

World No 47 Kyrgios came through a five-set encounter in the second round as he saved two match points to beat Ugo Humbert from France 5-7, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4 in a match that took more than three hours and 30 minutes to complete.

Love him or hate him, Nick Kyrgios is the most captivating tennis player of them all

Next up is US Open champion and third seed Thiem, who dropped just six games during his second-round victory over Dominik Koepfer, and the Australian had nothing but praise for the world No 3.

“He’s probably one of the most physical guys on Tour,” Kyrgios said. “He’s an extremely good player. He’s definitely – I have actually seen him progress. He’s a bit older than I am. I actually saw him in juniors and then I saw him struggle for a couple years, futures, challies, and then to see him get to the top of the game.

“It’s been actually pretty cool to see him develop and finally find what he needs to do to win matches.

“He trains like an absolute animal. He’s consistent every day. And I actually have a lot of respect for him. I think his style of tennis is not easy to play. He’s super physical.

“But I’m not even thinking about it. Like, I’m just hurting thinking about playing him right now.

“Whatever happens against Thiem happens. I’m going to go out there, serve, play with instinct, and if it’s enough, it’s enough. If it isn’t, I’m all right with that.”

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Dominic Thiem Nick Kyrgios