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Nick Kyrgios wasted no time adding another chapter to his long-standing feud with Novak Djokovic, despising the injury that hampered the Serbian star for straight sets against young American pistol Taylor Fritz.
Fritz was knocked out in the deciding fifth set of their third round match after an incredible recovery from Djokovic who looked down on the third and fourth set tally and received medical treatment on his stomach.
How did the Djoker come out of that one?
Djokovic claimed after the match that there was “something really bad going on” with the injury, leaving a cloud of uncertainty over tonight’s fourth round clash with Canada’s Milos Raonic.
Still, Djokovic’s story of miracle mid-game recoveries after medical treatment and a few ironic post-match comments from Fritz opened the door for skeptics to crowd into the world No.1, with suggestions that his painful grimaces after losing points during the match. were nothing more than theater.
Asked about Djokovic’s injury during his post-match press conference Fritz responded with a hint of mischief: “When I hit a winner, he sort of shot it. He looked good in the fifth.”
The American mentioned Djokovic again in a seemingly harmless Instagram post this morning to thank fans for their support, with his caption saying, “A really tough way out of #ausopen so close to something big after fighting too as hard as possible … Too hard. from @djokernole at the end and I hope his injury will get better soon. “
This opened the door for a provocative response, with Kyrgios barging straight in.
“I’ll be taking a medical Fritzy very quickly, I’ll be back in 2 hours,” Kyrgios wrote on Fritz’s post.
It was only the last beard of a feud that went global when Kyrgios was interviewed on New York Times tennis reporter Ben Rothenberg’s No Challenges Remaining podcast in 2019, giving an unqualified account of what ‘he thought of the 17-time Grand Slam winner.
He told Rothenberg that Djokovic “has an unhealthy obsession with wanting to be loved. He just wants to be like Roger (Federer),” adding that no matter how many majors he wins, he will never be considered the GOAT. tennis.
There have been countless shootings in both directions since, with Djokovic again at Kyrgios venues last year for staging the disastrous Adria Tour with full stadiums and nightclub appearances when COVID-19 hit. reached its first peak in Europe.
Asked about Kyrgios at his pre-tournament press conference last week, Djokovic said he had “no respect” for the Australian other than when he is on a tennis court. Kyrgios retaliated immediately when asked for his answer at his first Australian Open press conference.
Kyrgios sews Kokkinakis
Kyrgios was knocked out in a five-set epic Friday night by world No.3 Dominic Thiem after spitting out two sets to enjoy the lead.
His Australian Open campaign is not over, however, with the showman teaming up with Thanasi Kokkinakis to win his first-round doubles clash yesterday afternoon.
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