Australian Open 2021: Watch Nick Kyrgios openly mock Novak Djokovic
He may be out of the singles but that hasn’t stopped Nick Kyrgios from making all sorts of headlines ahead of Novak Djokovic’s massive match. MEN’S WRAP
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Nick Kyrgios has bowed out of the Australian Open with a bang – and one final shot at fierce rival Novak Djokovic.
Kyrgios and doubles partner Thanasi Kokkinakis went out in straight sets in their second-round defeat to fourth seeds Wesley Koolhof and Lukasz Kubot, but not before pouring more fuel on a simmering feud with Djokovic.
Arriving on-court with empty stands due to the snap lockdown in place in Melbourne, Kyrgios mimicked Djokovic’s trademark celebration by ‘giving love’ to the empty seats.
When asked about the routine, Kyrgios said he was simply “feeling the love”.
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“Just feeling the love. Just trying to spread the good word of the celebration. Everyone loves that celebration. It’s well liked,” Kyrgios said.
But that was quickly followed up by a straightforward reminder of just where his relationship with the world No.1 stands.
“(Kokkinakis and I) just banter anyway. When we tweet or when we just do stuff, it’s for fun, you know, like you can’t take it all too seriously,” Kyrgios said.
“We’re just having some fun. Novak, I’m sure, doesn’t like me and we both have respect for each other, but I don’t like him at all, so it’s fun.”
On the eve of the Australian Open Djokovic declared that he had respect for Kyrgios on the court - but held little respect for the World No.47 off it, in response to a question about the Australian calling him a ‘tool’ over his hotel quarantine demands.
Kyrgios has frequently attacked the 17-time grand slam champion this year over his controversial response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which included staging a doomed charity tournament – the Adria Tour – from which numerous players contracted the virus.
Kokkinakis, meanwhile, revealed why he deleted a mysterious tweet relating to Djokovic’s claim that he had an abdominal muscle tear during his five-set win over Taylor Fritz on Friday but hoped to be fit to play two days later.
After the match Kokkinakis posted “Recover from a torn muscle in two days?! Teach me”.
“For me I have no idea what he’s feeling or what he’s going through. I just heard he thinks he has a torn muscle,” Kokkinakis told reporters on Sunday.
“I didn’t mean it in a bad way at all. I’m like, if he can recover from a torn muscle in two days, like hats off. Like teach me.
“But I don’t know, I just — because I knew some Serbian fans would take that in like a negative way, and I copped abuse for it, but it wasn’t even taking a shot at him.
“I’m just like, if he actually has a torn muscle and can recover in two days, that’s impressive, because I haven’t been able to do that and it’s taken me months.”
Kyrgios conqueror crushed in Open smashing
Dominic Thiem may have ended Nick Kyrgios’ Australian Open – but that victory has seemingly come at the cost of his own.
The Austrian third seed – a beaten finalist at Melbourne Park last year – was crushed in straight sets on Sunday, visibly feeling the effects of his monstrous three-and-a-half hour, five-set win over Kyrgios just two days ago.
Taking advantage of Thiem’s heavy legs was Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, once known as Baby Federer, who showed a killer instinct to annihilate one of the tournament favourites 6-4 6-4 6-0 and reach his fourth Australian Open quarter-finals.
For the second time this weekend, Thiem found himself in a hole early on against an explosive opponent.
However, unlike against Australian Nick Kyrgios, this time Thiem was unable to dig his way out of the hole.
“He might have actually struggled with something… But I want to give myself credit for staying focused and composed throughout the three sets,” Dimitrov said.
“He’s an unbelievable player and a great friend off the court. I’m very happy to be at the quarter-finals.”
Thiem had early breaks in both the first and second sets, but on both occasions was unable to cement his dominance – with Dimitrov quickly breaking back to keep the sets on serve, only to go on to cement a two-sets-to-love lead.
The third set raced along at rapid pace, with Thiem broken three times as Dimitrov iced the victory in 121 minutes – the final six games taking just 21 minutes to complete.
Dimitrov will face Russian qualifier Aslan Karatsev for a spot in the semi-finals, and he’s in no mood to entertain the unseeded 27-year-old’s fairytale story.
“Every match if you’re here, is for a reason. Whether it’s a fairytale or not, it’s a match,” Dimitrov said.
“You’ve got to be ready. He’s a dangerous player… playing with a lot of confidence. It’s going to be a battle regardless.”
WHO IS AUS OPEN’S ULTIMATE SHOCK QUARTER-FINALIST?
After Team Russia swept their way to ATP Cup glory at Melbourne Park last week, captain Evgeny Donskoy beamed with joy and singled one member of his team out for special attention.
It wasn’t Daniil Medvedev, the world No. 4 who had just dismantled Italian No. 1 Matteo Berrettini and who enters the second week of the Australian Open as a newly installed favourite ahead of Novak Djokovic.
Nor was it rising star Andrey Rublev, who dropped just one set in his four ATP Cup singles victories and is one of the scariest prospects on the planet.
No, the team member deserving of Donskoy’s praise was sitting silently on the edge of the press conference as Russia’s Top-10 stars were being peppered with questions about their preparations for the Australian Open.
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It was Aslan Karatsev, a 27-year-old who has never tasted life in the top 100 of the ATP rankings – a fact that will change after his mind-blowing run this week, where he’s reached the quarter-finals in his first grand slam.
Karatsev has knocked off eighth seed Diego Schwartzman and Canadian prodigy Felix Auger-Aliassime, and is projected to jump more than 50 places to be 63 in the world – regardless of the outcome of his quarter-final.
But if you’re stunned this unheralded qualifier has stunned the tennis world, you shouldn’t be.
“I’m just actually more happy for the guys that they’re achieving the level that is going to be out of the limit soon because they’re playing unbelievable tennis,” Donskoy said on the eve of the Australian Open.
“This guy right here (Karatsev) is going to play also. You’re going to hear his name soon. Everybody said on our team, to (have) met him first time he was playing very good.”
Medvedev described Karatsev as Russia’s “secret weapon” in the ATP Cup, such was the esteem he was held in within the camp – even if he was rarely used, given the incredible form of their two-headed monster of singles superstars.
Karatsev’s rise, from a knee injury in 2016 that wiped him out for six months to his golden run in Melbourne, is representative of the sudden emergence of Russia as a tennis superpower.
Russia is one of just three nations to have three players ranked inside the top 20 – Canada and Spain the other two – but is the only one with two inside the top 10, both aged 25 and under.
No Russian male has won a grand slam since Marat Safin toppled Lleyton Hewitt in the 2005 Australian Open – a surprising record for a nation of 144 million and a proud history in the sport.
But in Medvedev and Rublev, they have two players with grand slam glory in their future. And they’re ready to win now.
It’s been 14 years since three Russian males had reached the second week of a grand slam before Medvedev, Rublev and Karatsev achieved the feat this Australian Open.
Medvedev is riding a 17-match winning streak into his fourth round clash with unseeded American Mackenzie McDonald on Monday, where victory could set up a showdown with young countryman Rublev – who has to overcome 24th seed Casper Ruud.
Originally published as Australian Open 2021: Watch Nick Kyrgios openly mock Novak Djokovic
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