‘Had a Bit of a Rocky Relationship’- Nick Kyrgios Reveals What Triggered Novak Djokovic to Have a ‘Newfound’ Respect for Him

Australian firebrand Nick Kyrgios has been labeled ‘the biggest villain’ in tennis but just as there are different strokes for different folks, many have even argued that he is potentially the most misunderstood player ever. However, any side of the Australian doesn’t stop tennis phenom Novak Djokovic from being his ‘best friend’.

Talking about the Djoker, ‘bad boy’ Kyrgios, who’s been injured for a long while now, doesn’t mind jogging back in time to talk about his early relationship with the Serb.

‘But real life is real life’ – Nick Kyrgios to Novak Djokovic

Recently featured on the AO Show podcast, tennis’ wild child, Kyrgios opens up about his initial rocky relationship with Djokovic which started on the sidelines of the 2021 Australian Open, where both traded nasty verbal returns during post-match pressers kicking up a media storm.

Kyrgios explains, “So I guess we had a bit of a rocky relationship and then when we kind of because he messaged me, he was like I would not expect you of all people to have said something and I was like dude like it’s fine. Like what happens on the court happens on the court, but real life is real life.”

Saying that they reached common grounds after the incident and were able to completely turn around their relationship at the 2022 Wimbledon, “So I guess after that we had a newfound respect for each other then the kind of fairytale Wimbledon final happened and then now we’re just staying in contact.”

Although they didn’t just simply stay in touch, they entered a whole new era of bromance. A recent example of this was seen at this year’s edition of the Australian Open, where Kyrgios even offered to fight a heckler on Djokovic’s behalf!

Nick Kyrgios has got Novak Djokovic’s back

In the fourth set, during his intense Round 2 battle with Alexei Popyrin with the score tied at 2-2, Djokovic engaged in a heated confrontation with a heckler. The Serbian player exchanged heated words with an abusive heckler telling him, “Come say that to my face”, and labeled him a coward.

Later in a post-match chat with Djokovic, Kyrgios offered to fight the heckler, “If you want me to jump into the crowd and sort him out, I’ll do it for you bro. I got your back 100%.” Following this the Djoker asked Kyrgios to return to tennis and team up in the doubles – perhaps something that fans would love to see!

In a twist of bromantic fate, Novak Djokovic and Nick Kyrgios have turned their on-court clashes into off-court chuckles, evolving them into a super entertaining unit. Tennis does bring people together!

Read More: Nick Kyrgios Puts in the Effort to Shower Love on Brother Novak Djokovic With a Heartfelt Tribute