Nick Kyrgios claims that talking with Novak Djokovic is helping him recover from an injury and that it has made him feel like a little child again. Kyrgios has only played in one tour match since October 2022, and that was a midsummer loss to Yibing Wu in Stuttgart.
He had surgery on his wrist and knee during the previous 18 months, so this month he is serving as a Wimbledon analyst rather than playing. He is going to go live with Djokovic this week, but he is also taking time to focus on his recovery.
After his Wimbledon first-round victory on Tuesday, Djokovic made reference to Kyrgios.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion defeated Vit Kopriva with remarkable style on Center Court as he recovered from surgery.
Djokovic said: “I’ve been fortunate comparing myself to other 37-year-olds. I had injuries like anybody else but they come and go. It’s part of what you do. You just have to accept it and embrace it. I think Nick Kyrgios is in the commentary box. He’s been struggling a lot with injuries. Talking about major injuries, he’s had a few. I’ve been very fortunate to not be away from tennis for long.”
He added: “As an athlete, I empathise with Nick and anyone who’s struggling. It’s tough; you almost feel helpless at times that something isn’t allowing you to come back to what you love most and you’ve been unable to do your profession for years.”
Currently the world no.2, Djokovic has managed to achieve a compiled 19-6 match record in 2024. The Serbian is now competing in Wimbledon where he beat the world no.123 Vit Kopriva 6-1 6-2 6-2.
Novak Djokovic will compete against the world no.277 Jacob Fearnley in the 2nd round. They have never played each other until now in top events.
Novak won 98 titles in his career: 52 on hard courts, 19 on clay courts, 19 on indoor courts and 8 on grass courts. (See the list of his titles)
Djokovic is scheduled to play next in Montreal (National Bank Open). He will start to play the tournament from the main draw that will commence on the 5th of August.
Now the world no.470, the Australian played his last match on the 13th of June 2023 when he surrendered to world no.482 Yibing Wu 7-5 6-3 in the 1st round in Stuttgart (draw).
Until now, during this year the Australian has achieved a composed 0-1 win-loss record.
Novak Djokovic and Nick Kyrgios played each other 3 times. The head to head is 2-1 for Kyrgios. The last time they played each other, Novak Djokovic won 4-6 6-3 6-4 7-6(3) in the final in London (Wimbledon) in July 2022.
In the following video you can watch the highlights.
