Kyrgios Envious Of Zverev's Discipline

Nick Kyrgios expressed his envy at his friend Alexander Zverev’s discipline after the #NextGenATP star’s stunning win at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Sunday.

The 22-year-old Kyrgios beat Zverev in back-to-back weeks as he made the quarter-finals in Indian Wells and the semi-finals in Miami earlier in the year. But while he holds the edge in their budding FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry (2-0), the Australian has high hopes for his 20-year-old friend, who clinched his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crown in Rome.

“He’s been playing great tennis,” said Kyrgios. “He has a massive future ahead. I actually envy him in a way. He does all the right things. He’s very professional. That’s obviously something I don’t quite tick the box for. He’s done all the right things. He’s going to have a great career. He’s younger than me as well. It’s going to be exciting to watch him play. I’m sure I’ll play him a lot more times.”

After being forced to miss Rome, Kyrgios returns to action this week at the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Lyon, where he is set to play his opening match against qualifier Nicolas Kicker later on Tuesday.

Talking to ATPWorldTour.com, the Australian said while he draws confidence from his wins over Novak Djokovic earlier in the season, as well as his three-set epic with Roger Federer in the Miami semi-finals, his primary focus for the coming weeks is to stay healthy.

“I think the one thing I just need to improve on is my health and my body,” said Kyrgios. “I’ve got to get it physically right and stay healthy to play events. I think my game at the moment is in the right frame of mind. I can play some really good tennis. My level is there, I just need to stay healthy.”