Not Roger Federer: Nick Kyrgios Reveals His Favorite Tennis Player

Maverick Australian star Nick Kyrgios has opened up on his favorite tennis player, and no, it’s none of the ‘Big Three’ – the moniker given to Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

Kyrgios, who will mark his return to Grand Slam tennis at the Australian Open picked veteran French tennis star Gael Monfils as his favorite player.

Nick Kyrgios names Gael Monfils as his favorite tennis player

Currently 11th in the singles rankings, Monfils has 10 ATP Tour titles to his credit and has been a runner-up twenty-one times on the circuit. However, the 34-year-old, who reached a career-high singles ranking of Number 6 on November 7, 2016, has yet to post a championship win in Grand Slams.

Monfils will head to the Australian Open this year in the quest of ending his long wait for a Major.

Fielding a rapid-fire during a fun interview ahead of the year’s first Grand Slam, Kyrgios picked “love heart” as his favorite emoji in social media posts.

Though the tall Australian fell in the fourth round of the Murray River Open, a tune-up ATP event ahead of the Australian Open, in Melbourne, he did show flashes of brilliance and characteristic nonchalance of stroke-play in the matches prior.

Kyrgios had one of his notorious meltdowns during his fourth-round loss at Melbourne ATP

Kyrgios did have one of his infamous meltdowns during his fourth-round defeat to Spaniard Borna Coric, as he was seen smashing his racquet on the turf and hurling it into the empty stands.

On the one place that he loves to visit time and time again, Kyrgios said “my hometown Canberra”.

Asked what the current lock-screen picture is on his smartphone, the burly Australian said it is an image from the Laver Cup featuring himself and American stars Jack Sock and Taylor Fritz, calling it a “pretty cool picture”.

He said the picture was taken after Fritz won his match at the event conceived by 20-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer.

Read More: “Off-Court, I Don’t Have Much Respect for Him”: Novak Djokovic Responds to Nick Kyrgios’ Criticism

To a question on whether he prefers forehand or backhand as his get-out-of-jail shot, he picked the latter after a moment’s pause.