“Still not enough”, said Nick Kyrgios last year while reacting to ATP’s three-year trial to give players ranked 1-100 a guaranteed salary of $460,000 a year. Seems like the former World No.13 is quite serious about money in his career. And now, he’s made it pretty evident, once again, ahead of his comeback with next year’s first Grand Slam in Australia.

Nick will soon appear on the Nothing Major podcast, hosted by American ATP pro Sam Querrey, Steve Johnson, and Jack Sock. However, the hosts decided to put a clip from the episode early on the show’s official Instagram account. In the brief clip, Sam decides to trick Nick with a million-dollar question – quite literally. “Would you rather have $20 million bucks right now or a Grand Slam title?”, he asked. Being completely shocked, Nick replied, “Are you serious?” To which, Sam answered, “I’m dead serious”. Well, how could Nick stay behind in giving an unfiltered and honest response here? He confessed, “I’m just saying a slam, it’s not that important”.

Now that’s an interesting answer coming from Nick, especially considering his statement from two months ago. Back in October, the Aussie was asked about his career goals as he was preparing to step on the court after recovering from injuries. “I have beaten pretty much every person that has been put in front of me, made a final of a Grand Slam, won a doubles title in a Grand Slam, won multiple titles and made money,” he said while talking to News Corp’s Code Sports.

In the same interview, however, he also revealed his Grand Slam ambition. “I think the one thing that is now on my target is a Grand Slam. I think that will be the only thing that will shut people up at the end of the day. That’ll be my deep motivation,” he said. But on the other hand, his latest response to have $20 million over a Major trophy implies that he’s a practical guy. At the end of the day, just like everyone else, he’s playing to get a hefty amount.

Meanwhile, he also made headlines few days back with a different statement. Not to mention it involved the members of the Big 3!

Nick Kyrgios clams he’s got a higher tennis IQ than Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, and Novak Djokovic

In an episode of the Let’s Trot podcast, Kyrgios was asked to rate the best attributes he likes in Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic. He picked the Serbian for his backhand, Roger for his slice shots, and Nadal his forehand and overall fitness. But when it comes to tennis intelligence, he didn’t hesitate to keep himself in front. Being very clear in his mind, he said, “I don’t know if anyone in the history of tennis has made the final of Wimbledon without a coach.”

For the unversed, Nick Kyrgios has traveled to different ATP tours without a coach since last seven years. Going solo, he managed to reach the final of 2022 Wimbledon. While rating himself higher than the Big 3, the Aussie said, “So for IQ, I’d probably take myself.” This claim will surely be tested when he starts his Australian Open campaign next month. It will be interesting to see whether his tennis IQ is really that solid or not against his opponents.

Before stepping in for the Major, however, Nick will appear in the Brisbane International this month. He will try to get the momentum and a much-needed form before appearing in the Australian Open. Do you think he will be able to leave a huge impact in the event? Let us know in the comments below.