Nick Kyrgios details why Roger Federer was 'the hardest to play against'

• Tennis News
• Roger Federer

Nick Kyrgios says Novak Djokovic is "the greatest of all time" but still it is Roger Federer who he found to be "the hardest to play against." Kyrgios, 28, has accomplished something that not many have been able to do - he has at least one win against every Big Three member.

Kyrgios has the most wins against Nadal - whom he has beaten three times, while he has two wins against Djokovic. Against Federer, Kyrgios had one win and six defeats. “I matched up really well against Nadal. I had the most success against him, but he’s still beaten me a lot of times.

Federer could make you feel really s---. No matter where you played him in the world, he was the fan favorite. Play him in Europe, America, Australia... Everyone wanted Federer to win all the time. I think Novak is the greatest of all time, but for me, Federer was the hardest to play.

Something about him... He was really aggressive and didn’t give you much room to breathe," Kyrgios said on the Hotboxin' with Mike Tyson podcast.

Nick Kyrgios says Novak Djokovic is the greatest of all time, but Roger Federer was the hardest for him to play:

“I matched up really well against Nadal.

I had the most success against him, but he’s still beaten me a lot of times. Federer could make you feel really sh*t. No… pic.twitter.com/nXlMrufyvs — The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) October 5, 2023

Kyrgios beat Federer in their first meeting and then never again

When Kyrgios met Federer for the first time at the 2015 Madrid Masters, the Australian delivered an impressive performance to edge out the Swiss in an absolute thriller 6-7 (1) 7-6 (5) 7-6 (12).

In the next couple of years, Kyrgios and Federer met six more times. Although Kyrgios was close to beating Federer in a couple of those six matches, he never again managed to beat the Swiss tennis icon. A couple of those six defeats Kyrgios suffered came in three sets.

At the 2017 Miami Masters, Federer edged out Kyrgios in what many think is one of the best matches of the 21st century - he beat the Australian 7-6 (9) 6-7 (9) 7-6 (5). Federer also needed three sets against Kyrgios in 2018 Stuttgart, as well as in his 2017 and 2019 Laver Cup wins over the Australian.