Nick Kyrgios has made a bold prediction over this year’s Australian Open men’s singles title, publicly expressing his belief that Stefanos Tsitsipas will be claiming his maiden Grand Slam crown.
“I think TsiTsipas wins the Aus Open,” he wrote on X, in a post that garnered social media hype and reactions.
But according to some, the Greek Australian tennis insider has publicly bet on Tsitsipas to win in order to balance out his consistent praising of Novak Djokovic since the start of the tournament.
Commenting on the statement, former top-10 player Andrea Petkovic suggested Kyrgios picked Tsitsipas not in full honesty, but rather in the aftermath of two weeks of expressing his admiration for Novak Djokovic as Eurosport’s newest commentator.
“[…]he was like, ‘Okay I’ve to pick somebody else just so people think that I’m not a Novak fanboy only’,” Petkovic said.
I think TsiTsipas wins the Aus Open
— Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) January 18, 2024
Watching this year’s Australian Open from the commentary box at Melbourne park, injured Kyrgios is speaking highly of the world No. 1.
“He’s in the conversation for greatest athlete ever with what he’s achieving,” Kyrgios said of Djokovic following the Serb’s first round win over Croatian qualifier Dino Prizmic in a four-hours long match.
“Seems like he’s got every shot in the book out and showing us why he’s the greatest player on the planet.
“He’s getting older, his game’s getting better, he’s moving better… incredible. What do you have to do to beat him?” said Kyrgios.
Tsitsipas also welcomed Kyrgios’ prediction favouring him with reservation.
“I appreciate him for writing this, but not paying much attention to it either” he replied when asked about it.
The Greek No.7 doesn’t shy away from the fact that Djokovic has been his main obstacle preventing him from winning a major, jokingly saying during a post-match press conference on Wednesday:
“Novak has been able to win here 10 times, he’s a very selfish person!
“I think if he wakes up one day feeling less selfish, a ‘sharing is caring’ type of vibe…There are two scenarios: whether someone has to beat Novak that isn’t me or it has to be me. We will have to find a way, either way.”
Tsitsipas scored his first straight-sets win on Friday beating Luca Van Assche and advancing to the fourth round where he will compete against No 12 Taylor Fritz on Sunday.
Djokovic is also set to take on France’s Adrian Mannarino in the fourth round on Sunday.
