Australian Open 2024: Nick Kyrgios on ‘head of snake’ Alcaraz, Roger Federer hotel gripe & Rafael Nadal’s huge arm

Nick Kyrgios returned to the Eurosport commentary booth for a four-set win for Alexander Zverev against Carlos Alcaraz at the quarter-final stage of the Australian Open.

Once again, the Australian gave more box-office views, opinions and insight such as Alcaraz being the future of tennis, a Roger Federer hotel gripe and also the size of Rafael Nadal’s arm.

“I’m really happy for Carlos. We get to see a youngster – it’s obviously the changing of the guard with Roger [Federer] going, Rafa [Nadal] on his way out and Novak [Djokovic], God knows how long he’s got left. He’s definitely going to be the head of the snake for the next decade of our sport. I hope his mental health continues to be great and he stays healthy. We don’t want him stepping away from the sport for a year or two because his mental health isn’t great. I want to see him playing and lighting it up. Looks like you and I are going to spend many nights together commentating this guy, let me tell you.”

“There’s definitely some similarities between Alcaraz and Rafa. Every time I walk past Carlos I’m like, ‘Man, this guy’s pretty small! How’s he getting so much power?’ He’s such a great athlete.

“The one thing about Rafa is that, when you walk past him, he’s a big dude. He’s not short. He’s quite tall with a huge lower body. His left arm’s the size of my first serve. He’s a big guy. Whereas Alcaraz is a bit smaller. [There’s] definitely big similarities. Mental strength, big fight and spirit.

“Me and [Mischa Zverev] had an epic match in Shanghai one year… I’m kidding, I got fined for tanking. Still epic.”

“I did a bit of a training week with Federer and I was always wondering ‘How does this guy train? How does he keep getting better?’ He would just create drills that he would do, [for example] working on his slice. There are things that [Carlos] can work on. I didn’t think Federer needed to work on anything, but there he was in Switzerland just getting better.

“The clubhouses in Switzerland have the best food. Old European clubhouses, the spaghetti bolognese went hard. The food was incredible.

“He invited me for a training week and I thought I was going to be staying in a five-or-six-star hotel. He put me in a three-star hotel for two weeks. Cheers, Rog. Sheers, mate. Wi-Fi was patchy. I couldn’t get a good night’s rest.”

“Literally every single coach told me not to play the way I play when I was young. It’s obviously worked.”

“Alcaraz is a joke. This is absurd. The passing shots that he’s produced. Wow. The best shot-maker we have on tour and he’s shown that in this third set tie-break. He is 2-1 down mini-break, and he hit some of the most ridiculous passing shots I’ve ever seen. There are people kissing in the crowd after he’s hit shots. I don’t know what’s going on.”