Nick Kyrgios shares Australian Open crowd plan against Jannik Sinner | Tennis | Sport
Sinner himself has refrained from entering into a public spat with Kyrgios, but could be forced to confront the 29-year-old in Melbourne.
Kyrgios has been given a wildcard by the Australian Open organisers and will face Brit Jacob Fearnley in the first round, while Sinner opens his title defence against Nicolas Jarry.
The pair can only meet in the final, having been drawn on opposite sides of the draw, but Kyrgios has promised a hostile atmosphere should he stand opposite Sinner at the tournament.
“Let’s be honest, I just want to go out there and I really want to play Sinner,” Kyrgios said on the Nothing Major podcast.
“I thought about this (the game plan). If I played him in the Australian Open, I would just get every single person in the crowd to get on him. I would just turn it into an absolute riot. All respect would go out the window and I would just do anything to win.”
The home crowd would likely be on Kyrgios’ side in the potential blockbuster match, but Sinner has plenty of fans in Australia after his title win a year ago. Kyrgios believes that their differences would make for quite the spectacle.
“I feel like why we love sport is because you have to have contrast in personalities,” Kyrgios added. “If I draw Sinner in the Australian Open, everyone will watch because it’s contrasting personalities. We don’t like each other, and I think it’s healthy in sport.”
For Kyrgios, his first priority will be getting onto the court against Fearnley. He hasn’t played at a Grand Slam since 2022, owing to lengthy injury turmoil, but recently pulled out of a charity exhibition due to an abdominal strain.
“I’ve had an ultrasound on my abdominal and have a grade one strain,” Kyrgios said. “Will be resting and doing everything I can to be okay for the Australian Open.”
He underwent surgery on his wrist in 2023 and conceded that it would be a “miracle” to return to the court again.
And while Kyrgios is speculating about what a late run at the Australian Open to face Sinner would look like, he has to concentrate on Fearnley in the first round before looking any further.
