There is always some form of entertainment when Nick Kyrgios enters the court and that was the case again on Sunday at the Australian Open where he made another jibe at one of his nemesis.
The former top-20 player took to the court with Thanassi Kokkinakis to play their doubles match against fourth seeds Wesley Koolhof and Lukasz Kubot. Although the talking point of their match was something that happened moments before it was about to start. Kyrgios walked onto the court imitating Novak Djokovic’s ‘heart-throwing’ celebration which he has previously described as ‘cringeworthy.’ The Australian was making a joke of the fact there were no fans at the venue due to Melbourne going into a five-day lockdown.
“Just feeling the love. Just trying to spread the good word of the celebration. Everyone loves that celebration. It’s well liked,” Kyrgios said during his press conference.
“Just banter anyway. When we (me and Kokkinakis) tweet or when we just do stuff, it’s for fun, you know, like you can’t take it all too seriously.”
Playing down the hype, Kokkinakis says the antics of his doubles partner were light-hearted and they were just having a laugh. Kokkinakis lost in the second round of the singles tournament in five sets to Stefanos Tsitsipas.
“We were just having some fun out there really because there was no one in the crowd so we were just trying to enjoy ourselves and kind of get a bit of atmosphere and energy about us. It’s nothing malicious, we just like to have some fun,” he said.
Kyrgios has never seen eye-to-eye with the world No.1 and has been a vocal critic of him in the past. Blasting Djokovic over his involvement in the Adria Tour last summer which came to an end due to an outbreak of COVID-19. He has also accused the Serbian of having a ‘sick obsession’ of wanting to be liked and called him a ‘tool’ for sending a list of suggestions to Tennis Australia chief Craig Tiley concerning the player quarantine.
“Novak, I’m sure, doesn’t like me and we both have respect for each other, but I don’t like him at all, so it’s fun,” said Kyrgios.
The public quarrel between the two shows no signs of stopping anytime soon. Last week Djokovic himself made his own jibe at the Australian by saying he has no respect for him outside fo the court. Although he did praise his playing abilities. The two have played each other on the Tour twice in 2017 with Kyrgios winning both of their meetings.
“My respect goes to him for the tennis he’s playing. I think he’s a very talented guy. He’s got a big game. He has proven that he has a quality to beat any player really in the world in the past,” Djokovic recently said of the world No.47.
“Off the court, I don’t have much respect for him, to be honest. That’s where I’ll close it,” he added.
Kyrgios and Kokkinakis lost their doubles match in straight sets.
