Kyrgios tells Murray he is better than Djokovic
Andy Murray endured a drunken lovebombing yesterday from his friend Nick Kyrgios, in the latest example of the increasingly bizarre trend for celebrity chats on Instagram Live.
While Novak Djokovic continues to use the platform to propound pseudoscientific theories, Murray has generally stuck to more orthodox tennis matters. But he looked embarrassed yesterday when a well-oiled Kyrgios started telling him he was “better than the Big Three”.
“I think you should have one of the best careers ever,” said Kyrgios, who admitted that he had drunk around half a dozen glasses of wine. “I said that to you many times. I think you are better than Djokovic. 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.”
In deadpan fashion, Murray waited for the tirade to finish, then replied: “Results would suggest otherwise.”
Kyrgios then tried to convince Murray that they should play doubles together, as and when the professional tour resumes. In the process, however, the Australian seemed to become confused about Murray’s nationality.
“I like to get up and about with the boys,” Kyrgios said. “Aussies and people from England, we are the same. Do you think me and Dominic Thiem [the world No3 from Austria] would vibe? No. I’m more invested in maybe like a nice cocktail. But my boy Dominic Thiem would be like, ‘I want to see this paint dry’.”
Amid Kyrgios’s ramblings, there was time for Murray, who returned to the practice court on Friday with his coach Jamie Delgado and brother Jamie, to offer an encouraging update on his right hip. “I was doing well before the injury at the Davis Cup,” said Murray, who was forced to sit out most of Britain’s matches in November by a pelvic bone bruise. “I think when things get back to normal, I will be all right.”