Aussie tennis rogue Nick Kyrgios has kicked off his Wimbledon campaign with a typically colourful press conference in which he called five-set doubles ‘the stupidest thing ever’ and said he could make top-10 players ‘look ordinary’.
Kyrgios was talking to the media at the All England Club ahead of his opening-round match against Paul Jubb on Tuesday.
As usual, he was brutally honest, especially when it came to playing doubles at the world’s most famous tournament.
Thanasi Kokkinakis (left) and Nick Kyrgios (right) celebrate winning at the Australian Open, where they got several opponents offside with their antics
Kokkinakis (left) and Kyrgios (right) playing in the Wimbledon junior doubles as teenagers
‘To be honest, I’m not really looking forward to playing best-of-five sets doubles,’ Kyrgios said at the media conference.
‘I think it’s the stupidest thing ever, to be brutally honest … no-one wants to play best-of-five sets doubles, no-one wants to watch best-of-five sets doubles.’
Kyrgios is set to reunite with good friend Thanasi Kokkinakis to play doubles at Wimbledon to go along with the usual singles draw.
Kyrgios (right) and Kokkinakis (black shirt) were exciting to watch at the Australian Open
The pair wowed the crowd with some dazzling play when winning the doubles title at the Australian Open in January, where doubles games are only best-of-three.
Kyrgios said he wasn’t quite as pumped this time around, given Wimbledon’s tradition still ensures double matches may go all the way to five sets.
‘I’m excited, but I’m also dreading the fact that if it’s one-set all I’m going to have to be playing three more sets of doubles,’ he said.
‘That’s why I haven’t played it before, it doesn’t make sense because I’ve always gone pretty well here in singles.’
Nick Kyrgios playing at Wimbledon in 2021, where he retired in the third round
Kyrgios certainly does have a decent enough record in Wimbledon.
He stunned the tennis world in 2014 when he beat all-time Rafael Nadal despite being ranked 114th in the world, before making it all the way to the quarter-finals at just 19 years of age.
He has never quite reached those lofty heights again, with a few dummy spits and retirements along the way but he is widely acknowledged as one of the better players in the world on a traditional grass surface.
Nick Kyrgios makes a shot in the Terra Wortmann Open in Germany on June 17
2022 has seen Kyrgios beat top players like Stefanos Tsitsipas, Andrey Rublev and Casper Rudd, and he said he felt ready to make a serious play at the Wimbledon singles title.
‘I’ve played top-10 players in the world this year and made them look pretty ordinary,’ Kyrgios said.
‘I know where my game’s at. I know if I’m feeling confident, I’m playing well, I’m able to just light it up kind of whenever I want.’
Kyrgios plays a cheeky shot at Wimbledon during the 2019 tournament
The 27-year-old has been picked by a few tennis pundits as a potential dark-horse for going all the way and winning his first singles Grand Slam tournament – something Kyrgios concurred with.
‘I know if I’m serving well and I’m playing well, I can beat anyone. I have pretty much beaten everyone in the draw before,’ he said.
It wasn’t just Wimbledon’s doubles tradition that he wanted to see done away with either, Kyrgios also has his sights on the dress code, which is strict, and calls for all-white clothing.
Nick Kyrgios has a keen sense of style, and is a fan of Wimbledon relaxing its dress code
A photo of Kyrgios from his Instagram page. He is a huge fan of basketball
He said he was a fan of potentially allowing a black armband or headband.
‘I think it would look cool. Obviously Wimbledon doesn’t really care what looks cool,’ he said.
For now, he’ll have to stick for the classic white – but if anyone can make white look cool, it would be King Kyrgios.
