Australian Open: Nick Kyrgios on ‘freak’ Carlos Alcaraz, ‘loving’ Daniil Medvedev, his tennis idols… and more

Nick Kyrgios is a player who gets tennis fans off their seats – but which players past and present does Kyrgios love watching?

The 2022 Wimbledon runner-up is working as a commentator for Eurosport at the 2024 Australian Open as he continues to recover from injury.

On the third day of the Grand Slam he was on duty to watch Carlos Alcaraz’s opening match against Richard Gasquet.

During the contest Kyrgios expressed his admiration for not only Alcaraz, but another top-five player on tour, as well as discussing his childhood idols.

Alcaraz has won two Grand Slam titles over the last 16 months and has also reached world No. 1.

He is bidding for a deep run at the Australian Open for the first time, having missed the tournament last year due to injury.

“He makes me excited about tennis,” said Kyrgios.

“Guy’s scary. End range. He’s a freak when he’s on end range like that. Intangibles are top notch.

“He’s one person I do want to face, I want to play and I want to give a good crack at when I go back. Before it’s all said and done, it’d be fun. Hopefully he’s nice to me.

“His bad days are still my good days.”

Kyrgios also said he thinks Alcaraz has “100%” forced Novak Djokovic to hit a higher level.

“Novak at 36 was maybe starting to doubt ‘what more can I do?’. Then he saw this teenager come in and Novak has evolved his game even more and has got better and has been like ‘alright, I’m going to see if I can match it’.

“They have had some epic matches already. I can’t wait for more.”

Kyrgios, who only played one match last year after undergoing surgery, is yet to face Alcaraz.

He has, though, faced another leading Australian Open contender several times…

Daniil Medvedev started his campaign with a four-set win on Sunday as he bids for another deep run in Melbourne, where he is a two-time runner-up.

Kyrgios said he not only “loves” watching Medvedev play, but is also a fan of his personality.

“I love him so much. Honestly. He embraces being the villain and I love it so much.

“He can have that mantle any day. It’s what we need. We need more of that.

“You’ve got to be comfortable in your own skin. Don’t worry about what people will think because they’ll tune in, everyone watches Medvedev anyway.”

While watching Gasquet face Alcaraz, Kyrgios revealed that another French player was one of his idols growing up.

Gasquet, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gilles Simon and Gael Monfils have been the leaders of French men’s tennis for most of this century.

They were dubbed the ‘New Musketeers’ – following the original ‘Musketeers’ of Jean Borotra, Jacques Brugnon, Henri Cochet and Rene Lacoste – and made history in 2008 when they were all in the top 20.

“When I was younger, my idol was Jo-Wilfried Tsonga,” said Kyrgios.

“When I started watching the game a bit more, and I started to realise, Tsonga, [Gael] Monfils, [Gilles] Simon, Gasquet… these guys were my generation’s idols. We always tried to mimic them [and their techniques] and make fun of them and try and play like them.”

On Gasquet, he continued: “He’s a Hall of Famer, no doubt. He’s done it for so long. His records aren’t great against the ‘Big Three’, but he’s beaten all of them as well. He’s such a unique player and I’d put him right up there.

“Tsonga and Monfils had more of a bigger game style and more X-factor, but Gasquet is right there.

“I think he’ll go down as one of the best French players to ever play. Incredible.”

On the current generation, Kyrgios asked whether Alcaraz could be forming part of a new leading trio after Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Djokovic.

“Is that arguably the new ‘Big Three’? [Jannik] Sinner, Alcaraz, [Holger] Rune?

“What I like about that is that they’re all different personalities too.”