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Is one good deed enough to redeem a man of a lifetime of wickedness?
That is the question Novak Djokovic is wrestling with ahead of tonight’s blockbuster Wimbledon final against Aussie Nick Kyrgios.
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Kyrgios has fried Djokovic in their many public slanging matches over the years, but — on the surface at least — everything changed during the days surrounding Djokovic’s visa cancellation and eventual deportation from Australia.
Kyrgios has spoken with classy respect for the 20-time grand slam champion this week and the niceties between the pair continued on social media on Sunday morning with Kyrgios making a stunning Instagram backflip by asking Djokovic to party with him after they do battle on Sunday night.
It looks like they’ve come a long way since some very public attacks that marred the earlier stages of their relationship. But the jury is still out on just how legitimate their Wimbledon truce is — especially considering how much baggage their relationship has.
Kyrgios lights Djokovic up in podcast swipe
In 2019 Kyrgios branded the then world number one as “cringe-worthy” and suggested he had a “sick obsession” with being liked.
“I feel he wants to be liked so much that I just can’t stand him,” Kyrgios told the No Challenges Remaining podcast.
“This celebration thing is so cringe-worthy. He’s unbelievable, a champion of the sport, one of the greatest we will ever see. I think he will get the grand slam count and overtake Federer.
“But we’re talking about a guy who pulled out of the Australian Open one year because it was too hot. No matter how many grand slams he wins, he will never be the greatest to me.
“I’ve played him twice and I’m sorry but if you cannot beat me, you cannot be the greatest of all time. Look at how much I train and put in … it’s zero compared to him.
“For me Federer will always be the greatest of all time. What Rafa has done has been pretty scary too.
“But Novak just riles me the wrong way. He always says what he thinks he needs to say rather than his actual opinion.
“The celebration just kills me. Every time it does … it kills me. If I play him and beat him again, I’m doing the celebration in front of him. That would be hilarious.”
Novak’s cold response after Kyrgios calls out Covid stupidity
The pair’s public angst reached its peak at the Australian Open last year. It started with the ill-fated Adria Tour event organised by Djokovic in 2020, which flouted health guidelines and completely ignored social distancing protocols.
Djokovic, Grigor Dimitrov, Borna Coric and Viktor Troicki all returned positive Covid tests after they were seen partying and mingling at the height of the pandemic. Kyrgios said the Serbian was “boneheaded” to press on with his exhibition event as the pandemic swirled violently.
Kyrgios said “Djokovic is a tool” for complaining about the conditions tennis players endured while completing their 14 days of hotel quarantine ahead of the 2021 Australian Open.
They went back and forth during the Open. Their salty dispute was best explained by the sight of Kyrgios mimicking Djokovic’s trademark celebration in mock salute.
Djokovic responded in a press conference saying: “Off the court, I don’t have much respect for him, to be honest. That’s where I’ll close it.
“I really don’t have any further comments for him, his own comments for me or anything else he’s trying to do.”
Kyrgios, of course, went back at him. Djokovic won the tournament at Melbourne Park for a record ninth time, but he lost the war of words with the Canberran.
“It’s a strange one for me,” Kyrgios said. “I read his comments. He said he doesn’t respect me off the court.
“I’m like, it actually would make complete sense to me if he was like, ‘I don’t respect the guy on the court’, because I understand if he doesn’t agree with some of my antics on the court that I’ve done in the past.
“[But] when we’ve played matches, I think I’ve been pretty good towards him. I’m not quite sure how you can’t respect me off the court.
“I feel like I’ve gone about things extremely well, especially during the pandemic. I was driving around delivering food to people during the pandemic that couldn’t get the supplies.
“I was extremely careful about what I was doing – I didn’t want to spread the virus to anyone. Now, I’m actually trying to donate meal kits to people who need food. I have a foundation.
“So it’s very strange to me why he would say he doesn’t respect me off the court – I actually do a lot off the court.
“But he’s a very strange cat, Novak is. A heck of a tennis player but unfortunately someone who’s partying with his shirt off during a global pandemic, I don’t know if I can take any slack from that man. That’s as bad as it gets for me.”
Kyrgios-Djoker bromance nobody saw coming
The past interactions explained above are exactly why Kyrgios’ admission on Friday night that he shares friendly private messages with Djokovic over social media was such a shock to many.
It all comes down to Kyrgios’ public support for Djokovic during the storm that erupted when the 20-time major winner arrived Down Under for this year’s Australian Open despite being unvaccinated.
Djokovic was deported after a bitter legal dispute but Kyrgios suggested it was Australia who needed to “do better” in the way it treated the tennis champion.
“Look I definitely believe in taking action, I got vaccinated because of others and for my mum’s health, but how we are handling Novak’s situation is bad, really bad,” Kyrgios said in January.
“Like, these memes, headlines, this is one of our great champions but at the end of the day, he is human. Do better.”
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Kyrgios shed light on his and Djokovic’s new-found mutual respect for one another
“We definitely have a bit of bromance now, which is weird,” Kyrgios said on Friday.
“Everyone knows there was no love lost for a while there. I think it was healthy for the sport. Every time we played each other, there was hype around it. It was interesting for the media, the people watching, all that.
“I felt like I was almost the only player to stand up for him with all the drama at the Australian Open. I feel like that’s where respect is earned. Not on the tennis court but when a real-life crisis is happening and someone stands up for you.
“We actually message each other on DMs on Instagram now. It’s real weird. Earlier in the week he was like ‘hopefully I’ll see you Sunday’.”
Djokovic was equally glowing in his praise for the Aussie. “Honestly, as a tennis fan, I’m glad that he’s in the finals because he’s got so much talent,” he said after defeating Cameron Norrie in the semi-finals.
“For the quality player that he is, this is where he needs to be, and he deserves to be.”
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