Nick Kyrgios is one of tennis’ most notorious individuals, never far from the spotlight.
Even throughout 2025, when he played just four professional matches due to injury, the Australian remained relevant throughout as he continued to push his narrative against Jannik Sinner following his ban from the sport.
He seemingly has an opinion on everything, and naturally draws plenty of criticism for voicing them as frequently as he does.
However, in 2024, he arguably made one of his most controversial claims to date.
When Nick Kyrgios compared himself to the Big Three
Speaking at the back-end of last year, on the Let’s Trot podcast, Kyrgios spoke about the legendary Big Three.
However, given the fact that he boasts such an impressive record against them, and actually beat the trio in his first time playing them, he certainly had the talent needed to compete with them.
Sadly, this did not materialise into tangible Grand Slam triumphs, although he did use his run to the Wimbledon final in 2022 to justify why he has a greater tennis IQ than all three of them and Andy Murray.
Kyrgios argued: “I have played against Djokovic, Federer, Nadal, and Murray. I have a higher tennis IQ than them. I don’t know if anyone in tennis history has reached the Wimbledon final without a coach. So, regarding the IQ, I would choose myself.”
Nick Kyrgios’ record vs Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal
Whilst Kyrgios’ records vs the Big Three are not positive, it’s worth bearing in mind that virtually nobody who played them regularly enjoyed playing them.
Take Andy Murray, who is widely regarded as the best player outside of that trio; he played them 85 times, losing 56 of those matches.
And yet, Kyrgios actually has a winning record against Djokovic, winning two of their three meetings.
Federer and Nadal were much tougher match-ups, and against the former, he did lose six of the seven matches they played against one another, despite the 30-year-old winning their first meeting.
When facing the Spaniard, he boasts three wins, but Kyrgios has lost six.
He actually admitted to ‘hating’ playing Nadal, noting: “I could not stand it. When I saw Rafa walking on and off the court, it generated a great hatred in me; I despised him very much. Playing against Rafa motivated me a lot.”
– READ MORE: The sport Nick Kyrgios said he preferred over tennis in 2015
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