Nick Kyrgios ‘would win five Slams with me, but it would not come cheap’, teases Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic and Nick Kyrgios’ bromance has gone up another level or two with the former saying he “would love to coach” the Australian while Kyrgios replied with an offer for “nice dinner and some drinks”.
Following his opening win at the Srpska Open on Wednesday, world No 1 Djokovic was asked after the match if there is any tennis player he would like to coach.
“I would love to coach Nick Kyrgios,” the 22-time Grand Slam answered. “He would win five Slams with me, but it would not come cheap.”
Kyrgios was quick to reply, but he wasn’t ready to accept Djokovic’s offer just yet.
“Hahahah…instead let’s go have a nice dinner and some drinks,” he wrote on Instagram Stories.
Djokovic would no doubt have his work cut out for him if he is to mentor Kyrgios as the Australian has made no secret of the fact that he is one of the most difficult players to work with. He has been without a coach since 2017.
Back in 2020 Kyrgios stated: “I don’t have a goal of winning Grand Slams. I just want to do it my way, have fun with it and just play. So to get a coach for me is just pointless. Because I don’t want to waste their time almost. I just don’t think a coach is ready – and I’m not going to put them through it too cause it would just be a nightmare.”
Although his outlook on tennis has changed since then as he admitted after last year’s Wimbledon final that winning a Grand Slam is now one of his major career goals.
Wimbledon 2022, of course was also the turning point in the Kyrgios-Djokovic relationship as they also had a “date” to have dinner as they made plans “to go nuts” after the final, although it never materialised.
Their friendly relationship over the past year is a far cry from their early days on the ATP Tour when Kyrgios branded the Serbian “cringeworthy” and took several jibes at him. Djokovic, though, rarely took the bait and always kept things amicable.
However, the frostiness melted last year when Kyrgios publicly supported Djokovic following his extradition from Australia over his unvaccinated status, with the Serbian saying that the backing meant the world to him during a difficult period.
And their friendship went up another level at Wimbledon with Kyrgios revealing they were “sliding into each other’s DMs” in the build-up to the final. Ahead of the showpiece match at SW19, they made dinner plans but never followed through although the bromance continued to flourish.
At the start of this year, they teased fans about a possibly teaming up in the doubles at the Australian Open, but instead they played an exhibition match in front of a sold out crowd at Rod Laver Arena.
