Mats Wilander believes Nick Kyrgios can prove he is the complete tennis player if he wins the 2025 Australian Open in January.
The Aussie will compete at a Grand Slam for the first time since the 2022 US Open next month following a disruptive run of knee, foot and wrist injuries.
Wilander insists Kyrgios is one of the few players who can combine skill on the court with charisma off it.
“I think Nick has revolutionised the sport in many ways,” the tennis legend told Eurosport’s Arnold Montgault. “Players are actually using part of his arsenal or his repertoire.
“Now, here’s another statement, if Nick goes out, and he plays his absolute best tennis, and if he wins the Grand Slam, I believe maybe for the first time ever, a single player would have ticked every single box that you can tick.
“He is competitive, the level is high, the mental attitude is brilliant, the repertoire and the variety of crazy shot-making and the jokes he cracks, no one has ever done it all.
“Nick Kyrgios has a chance to do it all.”
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The 2025 Australian Open will get under way on January 12 – live on Eurosport and discovery+.
Wilander believes it would be interesting to see if Sinner could hold his nerve again against Kyrgios, who spoke out about the Italian’s doping saga.
“Nick Kyrgios says he wants to disrupt and antagonise if he plays,” he added. “He’s disrupting matches at the best of times against any player, but in a way, I believe Jannik Sinner is completely innocent.
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“There’s no chance that he was trying to do something illegal, and it was not his fault whatsoever.
“It would be interesting to see if Jannik Sinner could hold and keep his cool if he played someone like Nick Kyrgios on, let’s say, the old Vodafone, John Cain Arena.
“They let all the ground pass holders at the Australian Open come in, so the average age in the crowd goes from 60 years old down to 16 years old or maybe 20 and some of them are having a few beers too many.
“That atmosphere would be interesting to see if Sinner could keep his cool if Nick Kyrgios really gets on top of him.”
Watch the 2025 Australian Open live on Eurosport and discovery+.