Nick Kyrgios has done it again—throwing shade with the precision of a forehand. This time, the target is tennis’ new rising stars Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. We have seen how he has constantly spoken about the doping cases of Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek. Now, he is gearing up to make a comeback in the 2025 season after he took a break in 2022, as he was struggling with a wrist, knee and foot injury. Before he appears on court again, he has a couple of things to say about his new opponents.

On the recent episode of “Nothing Major” podcast, dated 14th December, the Aussie talked about him potentially winning the Australian Open. While in the conversation, he said, “But now I feel like if you got a favourable draw and then you get to a quarters or a semis and by then the adrenaline’s pumping and you feel like.. they(Alcaraz and Sinner) are just kids for me like still.” Further, he compared his time with the Big Three and today’s time having the alleged Big Two(Alcaraz and Sinner).

“Alcaraz and Sinner and stuff, they are good. They are going to be generational talents and probably some of the best tennis players but for me they don’t have that aura yet of when I played the Federer and Djokovic like they don’t to have that yet and I think that that’s a big edge. I think you can play on that a bit. I couldn’t go out against Federer and start like playing mind games. It just didn’t work with him, but I feel like it could work with these guys still.” Does he really have a point, or is this just another classic Kyrgios provocation?

Kyrgios matchups with the Big Three—Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic—have been the stuff of tennis lore, as he is the third player, after Dominik Hrbaty and Lleyton Hewitt, each of the Big Three of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic. He, surprisingly, also has a lead in against Novak Djokovic in their head-to-head with a score of 2-1. He has also managed to beat Nadal thrice in their 9 encounters and Federer once in their six meetings. This is probably why he is making a bold assessment. However, Kyrgios’s criticism of the new generation is not just related to their on-court performance.

Kyrgios’ comments on Sinner recently gained extra weight after the Italian found himself in the news for a doping case. The World No. 1 tested positive for a prohibited substance (Clostebol) but was cleared of wrongdoing after he appealed to the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA). He is currently waiting for a decision from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) after the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) reopened his case. The Aussie tennis player took to X to criticize the ruling: “Ridiculous – whether it was accidental or planned. You get tested twice with a banned (steroid) substance … you should be gone for two years.”

The motivation to face Sinner again, especially after such a controversial incident, seems to be fuelling Kyrgios’ comeback.

Nick Kyrgios wants an “absolute riot” against Sinner at Australian Open

Nick Kyrgios is ready to hit the Australian Open courts after a hiatus of one and a half years. The Aussie player will play with a protective ranking of 21 at Melbourne Park. The former World No. 13 had been struggling with injuries, to an extent where his wrist gave him so much pain that he was unable to even open jars and doors. However, as he was talking to 9News, he revealed, “I always have wanted to leave the game of tennis myself. I wasn’t going to let this injury be the dictator of if I would ever play again.”

He also shared what he was particularly excited about as he steps back to the courts. On the same podcast, Kyrgios made a bold wish to play and defeat Jannik Sinner.

He said, “I just wanna go out there and I really want to play Sinner.” When asked about his game plan against the world No. 1, “Well, I thought about this and I’ve been thinking, I’ve been talking about it a little bit, like if I played him in Australian Open, like I would get every single person in the crowd to just like get on him. Like I would just turn into an absolute riot. Like I would lose all respect, would go out the window and would just do anything to win.”

Kyrgios believes the lack of aura in Alcaraz and Sinner is an edge he can exploit and that he can beat even the best of this generation. Will his comeback be successful or will these “kids” prove him wrong?