A red-wine addled Nick Kyrgios has declared his love for Andy Murray and lambasted some of tennis’ biggest names in a wildly entertaining Instagram Live chat between the pair.
Murray, at home in Surrey, just outside London, set up the 30-minute catch-up with Kyrgios, who was at his base in Canberra, clearly the worse for wear.
In a conversation posted on Murray’s Instagram page and dominated largely by the Australian, Murray asked Kyrgios how many glasses of wine he’d drunk.
“About as many games as you gave me at Wimbledon that year, about six,” Kyrgios responded, in reference to Murray’s comfortable win over him in round 16 at the All England four years ago.
Murray then asked Kyrgios why he got more excited playing in team events like the Laver Cup than for grand slams, cueing up the big-serving 24-year-old for a rant about players on the ATP Tour.
“It’s because it’s fun man. I am there with my best buds, trying to beat some European guys who have no banter, don’t give one-eff about each other and act like they care for one week which pisses me off,” Kyrgios said.
“Let’s be honest, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev hate each other, then they are besties all of a sudden.
“I like to get up and about with the boys. Aussies and people from England, we are the same. Do you think me and Dominic Thiem would vibe? No. I’m more invested in maybe, like, a nice cocktail. But my boy D Thiem would be like ‘I want to see this paint dry.’
“Team World, that is what we are all about man, if you (Murray) came over to Team World we would win.”
Kyrgios revealed he is to be a groomsman at the wedding of American doubles star Jack Sock then begged Murray, whose career has been thwarted by hip problems for the last 18 months, to team up with him when tennis finally resumes.
“We don’t care about Nadal, Djokovic and Feds, man. We all love you. Ordinary people like us love you,” he said.
Kyrgios, who has never hidden his antipathy for world No.1 Novak Djokovic, claimed he was an inferior player to Murray, despite the visibly embarrassed Scotsman knowing he trails him 11-8 in 19 tour finals, including seven grand slam deciders.
“I said that to you many times. I think you are better than Djokovic,” Kyrgios said. “Djokovic was playing dodgeball on my serve and you were slapping it for a winner. He was trying to dodge it, you were on it like a light.”
A laughing Murray then cut off the stream before Kyrgios could upset anyone else.
