‘He’s great for the game’ – John McEnroe says Nick Kyrgios is ‘one of the most talented’ players he’s seen in a decade

Eurosport tennis expert John McEnroe says Nick Kyrgios is “one of the most talented players” he’s seen in the last decade.

Kyrgios reached his first Grand Slam final at the Wimbledon Championships in the summer, before ultimately losing out to Novak Djokovic, but the three-time Wimbledon winner McEnroe hopes his taste for the big occasions will spur him on to achieve more.

“I think that things fell into place for him beautifully at Wimbledon,” he said. “And hopefully he tasted that and wants more of it.

“Because obviously, for our sport, if he’s out there competing at the type of level and the effort that you need to do it, then he’s great for the game, obviously.”

McEnroe went on to praise the Australian, who is set to begin his home Grand Slam against Roman Safiullin in the first round on Tuesday.

“He’s one of the most, if not the most talented guys, I’ve seen in 10 years,” he claimed. “Alcaraz would be the first guy almost, to me, that would be as talented as Nick but mentally, you know, it looks like Carlos has just got the whole package already and got it right.

“I will be interested to see, because I know another guy Rune is the real deal. I believe they’re gonna play the third round so I very much look forward to seeing Kyrgios.

“I thought that that would be a heck of a match.”

Kyrgios enters the Australian Open, which begins on Monday, as the 19th seed.

He faces 98th-ranked Russian player Safiullin in the first round, as he looks to better his quarter-final finish he managed in 2015.

He hasn’t reached the last eight since and was knocked out in the second round last year when he came across eventual finalist and runner-up Daniil Medvedev.

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