Nick Kyrgios: 'If Nadal wins 22 Grand Slams, he'll have the crown'
Nick Kyrgios commented on the GOAT debate in his "No Boundaries" podcast. Should Rafael Nadal win the French Open this year, the Spaniard would be the best of all time for Kyrgios.
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit:
Mar 07, 2022, 08:03 am
For a long time it was extremely uncertain that Rafael Nadal would go down in history as the first player with 21 Grand Slam titles. Especially during the Australian Open final earlier this year, when the Spaniard was already 2-0 down against Daniil Medvedev - and it hardly looked like the Spaniard could come back in this game.
As is well known, it came differently. And now Rafael Nadal is the player who was the first to shine 21 times as a major winner from the podium. This turnaround in Australia was also extremely surprising for Nick Kyrgios - especially given the conditions: "Before the game I said: It's a terrible pairing for Rafa," said the Australian.
Kyrgios writes off Finale too soon
Given the Russian's clear lead, Kyrgios then wrote off the final prematurely, as he explained on his 'No Boundaries' podcast: "When Daniil won the first two sets, I found it very difficult for Rafa to come back. When it was 2: 3 and 0:40, I stopped looking at the result," said the 26-year-old. "Two and a half hours later I looked at it again and couldn't believe it."
For the Spaniard, this success was of course a very important one with regard to the GOAT debate. As Kyrgios points out, the Spaniard could already make everything clear at the French Open: "If he wins Roland Garros, he is without a doubt the best of all time. If Nadal wins 22 Grand Slams, he has the crown," said Kyrgios.
In any case, according to Kyrgios, Roger Federer will have no influence on this debate, the 40-year-old is working on another, probably last comeback despite his old age: "Roger is out of the GOAT discussion. He lost head to head against Nadal and against Djokovic . He will stay behind", stated Kyrgios. "I don't see Roger beating the strongest."