Nick Kyrgios’s very honest confession about his friendship with Novak Djokovic

Nick Kyrgios has once again admitted he never thought a friendship with Novak Djokovic was possible, but now they send each other “ridiculous memes” and have a great relationship on and off the court.

If you can remember well, the Australian tennis star had no interest in the record holder, who won a Grand Slam 24 times, in the past. He lashed out at him several times and even called him a ‘tool’ once.

But after the 37-year-old was detained by Australian authorities during that infamous visa saga, it was the former world No. 13 who stood up for the Serb and criticised his country for what he saw as unfair treatment. From that moment on, the relationship between the two changed completely.

Since then, Kyrgios has also played the biggest match of his career against Djokovic, losing to the former world number 1 in the 2022 Wimbledon final.

“The fact that I played a Slam final with Novak at Wimbledon is crazy because we’re so different that now we’re like friends and it’s amazing and I get to hit with him and help him, it’s pretty cool. Yeah, it’s crazy. I never thought I would actually be really good friends with Novak Djokovic, and it’s not just on the court. It’s like we text each other, we send ridiculous memes and all that stuff on Instagram,” Kyrgios said on Tennis Insider Club.

Kyrgios was furious with Australian authorities

After arriving in Melbourne for the 2022 Australian Open, Djokovic was not allowed to enter Melbourne Park because he had not been vaccinated. At the time, the Serb argued that he had been given a medical exemption before flying to the country and that it was completely unfair to detain him.

While the Djokovic saga made headlines and the tennis legend was held in an immigration hotel, he received a lot of public support from Kyrgios.

“Look, I absolutely believe in action. I got vaccinated for others and for my mother’s health, but the way we’ve handled Novak’s situation is bad, really bad. Like these memes, headlines, this is one of our great champions, but at the end of the day he’s a human being. Do better,” the Australian tweeted at the time.

In another post he added: “I feel quite embarrassed as an Australian athlete to have seen what this man has done for us and the sport. I just don’t think it’s the right way to handle it but the media loves to do that, they love to divide and I don’t want that to take away from the great results other Australians are achieving.”

What did Kyrgios reveal about Djokovic and how did the Serb’s family react?

When asked what prompted him to speak publicly on the issue and side with Serbia, the 29-year-old said he knew what it felt like to have “the world against you” and said the 2022 Wimbledon champion had personally reached out to him to ask some questions, as he needed some help and guidance.

“Novak reached out to me personally on Instagram to say thank you for standing up for him. I wasn’t the one he expected to be in the media and supporting him. I think he clearly feels alienated in all of this and as a human being it’s a dangerous place to be when you feel like the world is against you and you can’t do anything right and he just wants to come here and play tennis. I think on a human level he needs some support from other tennis players,” Kyrgios shared at the time.

While the Australian tennis star was in Australia voicing his support for Djokovic, the Serb’s family held protests in Belgrade demanding “justice”. During one of those protests, the 37-year-old’s father publicly acknowledged Kyrgios’ help and expressed his gratitude.

Although the record-holding 10-time Australian Open champion was ultimately not allowed to compete in Melbourne that year, his family did not forget the Australian tennis player’s efforts. And a few months later, Djokovic’s brother Djordje invited the 29-year-old to Serbia so that he could be their guest.

“I want to bring Nick Kyrgios to Belgrade to thank him for his support for Novak, Belgrade and Serbia. He is an entertainer, he doesn’t mince his words and he will always give his opinion, whatever it may be. But above all, he is a serious athlete and tennis player. I hope he comes to the Serbia Open before his tennis career ends,” Djordje Djokovic said on Serbian TV in mid-2022.