Tennis star Nick Kyrgios has slammed the handling of the Novak Djokovic saga as a “s…show” as the controversial world No.1 today fights in court for the right to defend his Australian Open crown.
Djokovic’s lawyers are trying to overturn his cancelled visa for the second time in the Federal Circuit Court in dramatic scenes ahead of the Grand Slam tournament starting tomorrow.
And Australian ace Kyrgios, who called Djokovic a “tool” last year, is now firmly in the corner of the Serbian superstar.
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“Novak has reached out to me personally on IG (Instagram) saying ‘thank you for standing up for me’,” Kyrgios revealed on his ‘No Boundaries’ podcast.
“I was not the one he was expecting to go out in the media and have his back.
“As a human, he’s obviously feeling quite alienated in all of this. As a human, that’s a dangerous place to be in – when you feel like the world is against you, like you can’t do anything right.
“(Australian immigration minister Alex) Hawke said that he’s a threat to our borders. Ah, no he’s not. It’s like he’s a weapon of mass destruction at the moment. He’s here to play tennis, he’s not doing anything to anyone.
“The mistreatment of people in Melbourne has been atrocious in the last two years. I understand the anger towards him for not being vaccinated and getting a medical exemption, but if you look at it on face value, he’s got his paperwork…
“Me and Novak have a bromance now, he’s back in detention and it’s f….d. We are boys now. I can’t wait till the Aussie summer is over and we can play ball. The party after Melbourne is gonna be f…ing nuts. I’ll rent a house and just go f…ing nuts.”
Kyrgios is recovering after testing positive for COVID-19 but still plans to play in the AO and has been drawn against qualifier Liam Broady in the first round on Tuesday.
“This COVID shit has f….d me up, I’m not gonna lie. I’m tired all the time,” Kyrgios said.
“Am I playing the AO? Yes. I’m ready for the AO but the court I have been hitting on isn’t great. They’re putting me on a jet tomorrow (Sunday).”
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