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Vile Dig Comes Pete Sampras’ Way as Nick Kyrgios Revisits the American Legend’s Humiliation on Home Soil

Published 12/12/2023, 10:22 PM EST

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Nick Kyrgios never misses an opportunity to serve up aces and banter with his sharp wit. As the 28-year-old has been out of the tennis circuit for around a year, he has kept his audience on their toes with his skillful wordplay. Recently, the Australian tennis player has been in the headlines for his take on what past tennis during the Pete Sampras era looked like.

But now, he has taken a vile dig at none other than the 52-year-old American tennis legend when stuck in the crossover of banter. Let’s take a look at how the Aussie brought his countryman, Lleyton Hewitt, to make fun of the 14-time Grand Slam champion.

Nick Kyrgios takes a funny dig at Pete Sampras

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The former 13th-ranked tennis player’s opinion has created chaos in the tennis world. Just a day ago, he made a statement regarding how the sport is not a slow game like it used to be in the past. Along with that, Nick Kyrgios brought up a comment to prove how this generation of tennis players is different from the past generation.

He stated that Pete Sampras, somewhere down the line, has faced victories from players like Lleyton Hewitt and will not be able to stand against Novak Djokovic. Kyrgios stated, “If Hewitt was doing it, Djokovic would destroy him. He would eat him alive.”

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After this statement, when a Twitter user questioned how putting Djokovic and Sampras together would not be a perfect clean-up, Nick Kyrgios took a dig while re-visiting the American tennis legend’s humiliation on home soil. He wrote, “Righttttt did you see what Hewitt did to Sampras.” 20 years ago, during the US Open, 20-year-old Australian Lleyton Hewitt changed everything, achieving a victory against Pete Sampras.

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In the same context, Nick Kyrgios believes that if an Australian tennis player can beat Pete Sampras, there is no chance that he will stand strong against players like the 24-time Grand Slam champion. Nevertheless, a few years ago, the 42-year-old Australian talked about how winning the US Open changed the game for him.

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Lleyton Hewitt’s world turned upside down with Pete Sampras defeat

During the same conversation, the 2022 Wimbleton finalist talked about how the 20-year-old Lleyton Hewitt, back in the day, won his first Grand Slam victory by defeating the undefeatable Pete Sampras of that time. The two-time Grand Slam champion described the moment, regarding how even after getting defeated by the American player in a semi-final the year before the US Open, he knew how he turned the tables.

He said, “For me, it was tough because I was obviously on Cloud Nine after winning the US Open, and thrilled that I had won my first major.” At that time, the 52-year-old American legend was ruling the tennis court, but at the same time, he faced defeat from a 20-year-old. Similar to Novak Djokovic, who is still going strong on the court, Nick Kyrgios also firmly believes that Sampras has no chance of winning against him in the modern era.

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What do you think about Kyrgios’ assessment of Sampras not being about to stand against Djokovic by bringing up Hewitt’s example? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

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Written by:

Pratishtha Prakash

2,406Articles

One take at a time

Watching the biggest sports events have been a part of my life right from my early childhood. Although I have grown up watching a variety of sports, including tennis, cricket, and esports, I have a special connection to tennis. Thus, when it came to building a career in sports journalism, I focused on the racket sport.
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Edited by:

Shivali Nathta