Nick Kyrgios claims former World No.1’s opinion ‘means nothing’ to him
Nick Kyrgios has responded to former doubles No.1 Nicolas Mahut’s claims that he was being disrespectful towards Jannik Sinner, with the Australian suggesting that the opinion ‘means nothing’ to him.
Kyrgios is currently gearing up for his return to ATP Tour action for the first time since June 2023, and has been playing at the World Tennis League exhibition event in Abu Dhabi this week.
The former Wimbledon champion has won two doubles matches, alongside Jasmine Paolini and former rival Casper Ruud, but lost his only singles contest to Andrey Rublev.
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However, one of the main talking points from Kyrgios this week came due to his recent comments against singles World No.1 Jannik Sinner, who he recently revealed that he wants to play at the Australian Open and claimed that ‘all respect would go out the window’.
Kyrgios has been very outspoken against Sinner during his doping case this year, with these comments not being popular with the aforementioned Mahut.
“I don’t like these kinds of statements,” Mahut told Eurosport. “He gave his opinion about Sinner’s positive tests, which is fine, but to let it escalate like this in a disrespectful way? Sinner has never disrespected anyone, and whatever anyone says, you need to realise the fact that he’s the No.1 in the world. There’s no need to let yourself go like this.”
Mahut also suggested that Sinner would beat Kyrgios in straight sets if they were to play one another, and now Kyrgios has fired back at the Frenchman in an exclusive interview with Telecom Asia Sport.
“I don’t know if there’s a back-and-forth. Nicolas Mahut, on a global level, hasn’t made inroads like I have, so I’ll let that be,” said Kyrgios. “And I don’t think the world necessarily cares too much about what Nicolas Mahut has to say.”
The 29-year-old continued, “I have people like Mahut telling me to be realistic. He was an amazing doubles player, a Grand Slam champion, no doubt, but he didn’t have the singles career I’ve had. That’s probably why he has his opinion. But on the singles court, he never had the belief I have, so that opinion means nothing to me.
‘I’ve achieved way more things playing singles than Mahut could have in his entire career. That belief is what separates players. [Roger] Federer, [Rafael] Nadal, [Novak] Djokovic — they were the greatest because people were defeated before they even stepped on the court with them. I don’t want to be that player. I’ll always back my ability and my belief.”
Mahut reached a career-high singles ranking of No.37, winning four titles on the ATP Tour, and was part of the longest tennis match in history against John Isner at Wimbledon in 2010 (11 hours and five minutes).
The now 42-year-old, who played three of the four majors this year, is most known for his doubles success, having won five Grand Slam titles with Pierre-Hugues Herbert and reached the summit of the rankings back in 2016.
Looking past these most recent comments, Kyrgios will look to make his official return to the ATP Tour at the Brisbane International which gets underway on Tuesday 31st December.
Inside the baseline…
For someone who claims not to care about Nicolas Mahut’s comments, they have certainly elicited a strong response from Nick Kyrgios. When you compare their singles careers side-by-side, Kyrgios has achieved more than Mahut on the singles court, but that does not mean that the Australian is justified to be so disrespectful. Especially when you consider that the biggest title that Kyrgios has ever won is on the doubles court with Thanasi Kokkinakis at the Australian Open.
READ MORE: Nick Kyrgios predicted to lose to Jannik Sinner by former World No.1
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