Aussie firebrand Nick Kyrgios has taken a sly dig at a number of tennis greats from past generations, suggesting they couldn’t compete in today’s game.
The 27-year-old Canberra product was appearing on the Impaulsive podcast, hosted by American YouTube personality Logan Paul.
A conversation about basketball became a light debate about who the GOAT – greatest of all time – of the sport would be.
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Kyrgios was then asked who the GOAT of tennis is.
“(Roger) Federer and (basketball legend Michael) Jordan are very similar,” Kyrgios responded.
“But I think Novak (Djokovic) statistically is better.”
Federer retired last year with 20 grand slams to his name, while Djokovic’s Australian Open win in January brought him level with Spanish great Rafael Nadal on 22 major wins.
The biggest win of Kyrgios’ early career came when he was 19, when he upset Nadal at Wimbledon, but the Spaniard was not mentioned in the conversation on the podcast.
The American hosts, though, then quizzed Kyrgios if legends from past eras could be counted among the GOAT debate.
Specifically Pete Sampras (14 grand slams), John McEnroe (seven), and Andre Agassi (eight) were suggested as potential GOATs of the sport.
But the Aussie’s response was blunt.
“No way,” Kyrgios said.
“Because I think (Michael) Jordan could still play (in the NBA) in this era, whereas those guys would get absolutely snipped in this era.”
Kyrgios has worked with McEnroe when the pair represented Team World at the Laver Cup, and the American great is a constant presence at the majors each year.
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