Who’s the real ‘super-brat’ of the tennis world? The 5ft 11-inch American lad with long curly hair and a hairband tied around his head who ruled the courts in the 1980s? Or is it the 28-year-old Aussie star who was once fined $47,000 by officials for his epic outburst after his at the QF of the US Open in 2022? Both John McEnroe and Nick Kyrgios are among controversial players in the history of the game.

Their matches are full of epic displays of ranting, racket-wrecking, and trash-talking. Both of them have faced criticism and suspensions over their aggressive behavior in the past. But now, their performances are also embraced in the tennis world. Recently Nick Kyrgios revisited the controversial super-brat side of John McEnroe while drawing a parallel with his own career.

Nick Kyrgios is embracing the later stages of his career

Talking about on-the-field achievements there is a big gap between the two. John McEnroe has won a total of 77 singles titles in his career including 7 Grand Slams. He is the only player since the inception of the ATP rankings in 1973 to hold the number 1 spot in both singles and doubles simultaneously. In contrast, Nick Kyrgios has won only 7 titles in his singles career. His best performance came in Wimbledon 2022, where he reached the finals for the first time in a major event. However, Kyrgios is the only player to beat each of the ‘Big Three’ in tennis when he played first time against them. But when it comes to entertainment on and off the court, there is quite a lot of similarity between them.

Recently Kyrgios came to ‘What Now? With Trevor Noah’ podcast and opened up about the John McEnroe comparisons, “Yeah, he was nuts. And then yeah, he got I mean, I feel like I mean, and then he retired. And now he’s an absolute legend. It’s like, “we should have embraced him while he was here”, type thing. But I feel like that’s for me.”

“I feel like now I’m getting more embraced when I’m getting to the later stages of my career, and it’s like, yeah, would have helped if I got embraced earlier on because I probably wouldn’t have obviously had those dark periods and times been in better physical condition, I probably would have adored the sport more and tried a little bit harder to get the best out of myself. “

READ MORE: ‘Holy S***!’- Heartfelt Exchange with Naomi Osaka Recalled by Nick Kyrgios in a Gripping Confession to Trevor Noah

Nick Kyrgios had gone through a tough phase in his life in the past 3-4 years. During the podcast hosted by South African comedian Trevor Noah, the Australian recalled those dark days.

Kyrgios recalls life of anxiety from 2019

In 2019, Nick Kyrgios hit rock bottom due to excessive pressure from fans and social media. He recalled that moment when he had to be admitted to the psychiatric ward in a hospital in London due to suicidal thoughts. Kyrgios had to undergo mental health therapy just a day before he was supposed to face Rafael Nadal at the Wimbledon.

He then went on to add in this podcast that he later realized that people may not care about personal struggles. So, he has now been prompted to navigate through his mental challenges independently. Do you think people are more open to accepting him now?

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