Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios has described Rafael Nadal’s French Open dominance as an achievement that is unlikely to be repeated ever again but it is another player who he believes is the greatest.
In Paris Nadal defeated Novak Djokovic to claim his 13th title at Roland Garros to make him the first player in history to have won the same Grand Slam that amount of times. He now has 20 major titles to his name which ties him with Roger Federer for the most ever won by a male player. Djokovic, who is the other member of the Big Three, currently has 17 titles.
“I wasn’t surprised when I saw Rafa pretty much easing his way through the draw at the French Open. That’s his backyard, he loves playing there and he has only lost two matches in his entire career,” Kyrgios told NBA program Courtside Huddle.
“Honestly, in my opinion I don’t think we are going to see anything like that ever again. Somebody so dominant on a surface he’s right there with the greatest of all time. You can argue that he is the greatest.’
“You look at Federer, he’s the most dominant player of all time, but in this era it’s actually Rafa. It’s a debate you can have.”
During his career Kyrgios has played a member of the Big Three 17 times on the ATP Tour and has won four of those encounters. The majority of his success has been against Nadal who he has defeated on three different occasions. Kyrgios has also beaten Federer once but is yet to get the better of world No.1 Djokovic.
Weighing on the Greatest Of All Time (GOAT) debate the 25-year-old has come out in favour of Federer, who currently holds the record for most weeks spent as world No.1 and has won 103 ATP titles which is the second highest tally in history after Jimmy Connors. Kyrgios compares to Swiss maestro to six-time NBA champion Michael Jordan
“In my opinion, I think Federer is still (the GOAT). I think he is almost like a (Michael) Jordan status type thing. He was the main guy that was so dominant on every kind of surface. I think the way he plays the game is something special,” he explains.
Renowned for his fiery temperament on the court Kyrgios is an outspoken figure in the sport. He once said Nadal was his ‘polar opposite’ and a ‘super salty’ loser. Although the two have since shown respect towards each other with the Spaniard describing Kyrgios as ‘one of the highest talents’ in men’s tennis following their Australian Open clash in January.
“We had our differences when we played each other,” Kyrgios admits. “We’re fiery, we’re competitors and are going to go after each other. But at the same time I am not going to take anything away from him . He’s an absolute champion and 20 Grand Slam is ridiculous and I don’t think we are ever going to see that again.”