Nick Kyrgios on his ‘uncomfortable’ experience with Serena Williams and dealing with critics

Tennis News
Nick Kyrgios in action

Nick Kyrgios was in a feisty mood as he spoke to the No Boundaries podcast, as he opened up on his experience playing with Serena Williams.

The outspoken Aussie has been making more headlines off the court than on it in recent months and he continued that trend when he spoke about his time on court with 23-time Grand Slam champion Williams.

“I’ve hit with Serena before,” he said. “There are some sports where the levels (between men and women) are quite similar, but deep down I was like ‘Serena you have to get me involved here, we’re getting snipped, give me the ball!’”.

“I played mixed doubles with her at IPTL and it was the most uncomfortable experience for me because she was trying to do everything. And I was like ‘I’m better than you’.

“There are some sports where the levels (between men and women) are quite similar…but deep down I was like ‘Serena you have to get me involved here, we’re getting snipped, give me the ball!'”

Kyrgios went on to address the criticism he gets that is generally related to his ‘relaxed’ attitude towards the game.

“Every single day of my life I deal with people telling me how to be or how to train or how to hit a forehand,” he added. “I feel that as a 26-year-old I am in a pretty good spot, I help a lot of people, I have a lot of options, I’m healthy, I’ve got great friends and those are my goals right now.

“When I was young I wasn’t thinking about winning Grand Slams, I just wanted to have fun.

“I love the game but I’m not passionate or driven as they are. They’re like once in a generation, once in a decade athletes.

“There’s no chance that (Roger) Federer or (Rafael) Nadal or Novak (Djokovic) or (Andy) Murray doesn’t love it.

“If you watch Murray’s documentary, he’s having phone calls in the middle of the night at 3am to his team saying, ‘I’m scared to not play, like I don’t know what I’m going to do without the sport.’ That’s not me.

“You have to pick what you want, do you want fun or more titles? You can have a little balance but I have picked my poison. I am happy.

“I just say it’s my life. It’s so easy to tell people what to do… you can’t tell people how to live their life.”

Nick Kyrgios Serena Williams

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