Nick Kyrgios fully behind Novak Djokovic: “I want him to win the tournament and walk with my ‘Idemo’ T-shirt”

This one, no one really saw coming. In recent years, no one on the circuit has had harsher words than Nick Kyrgios towards Novak Djokovic. The fan(ti)que Australian player has taken turns attacking the man and the player, but this time he is perhaps his main advocate on the circuit.

During the week, he had already risen to support the world number one, criticizing the media in particular for their coverage of the whole affair. “He is a human being first and foremost. If she was a normal person, she wouldn’t have to deal with this media bullshit, he had said. He helped us (the Australians). During the bushfires, he supported us, he helped us. We’re so quick to forget.”

On Saturday, two days before the start of the Australian Open, and perhaps on the eve of the expulsion of Novak Djokovic, Nick Kyrgios again lined up behind the Serbian champion during his press conference. pre-tournament in Melbourne. This time, it is the zeal and the arguments of the Australian authorities that are at the heart of his remarks. Including the Minister of Immigration, Alex Hawke. “Hawke says he’s a threat to our borders, we’re treating him like a weapon of mass destruction. But he is not. He’s here to play tennis, he’s not hurting anyone“, thundered Kyrgios.

If the Australian has resumed speaking and his unofficial lawyer’s robe, it is also because of the comments of players like Rafael Nadal or Stefanos Tsitsipas, who no longer hesitate to display their fed up with this whole affair. and somehow “dropped” Djokovic. “It drives me crazy, it really drives me crazy to hear Nadal or Tsitsipas. OK, I understand that they have to answer when you ask them the question and everyone has their opinion, that’s fine. But I have the feeling that they treat him like Novak Djokovic, not like a human being. Where’s your support for this guy?“

Nick Kyrgios therefore hopes that, on Sunday, the world number one and three-time defending champion in Melbourne will win his case. Better, not only does he want to see Djokovic play, but he also dreams now of seeing him triumph at the Rod Laver Arena for the 10th time on January 30. “Honestly, I want him to fucking win the tournament. It would be huge. I want to walk in Melbourne Park with my ‘Idemo’ T-shirt (come on, in Serbian). I wanna walk around with a Novak mask on my face.”

According to Kyrgios himself, Novak Djokovic sent him a message to thank him for his support, which he probably did not expect. But the hatchet is well buried. “It’s funny, but Novak and I were friends, we trained together in some tournaments, but the media played us against each other, he said this week. The media exaggerated things a lot, they made the situation 30 times worse than it really was. I remember Novak was one of the few players who, when I was young, said to me: ‘If you need anything, don’t hesitate to come to me and I will help you’.“Today, he is the one who helps Djokovic as much as he can.