Nick Kyrgios wants Jannik Sinner in Melbourne.
The Australian is eyeing a showdown against the World No.1 and has described exactly what he will do should he play the Italian.
As Kyrgios ramps up his preparations for the Australian Open following his injury, the 29-year-old has continued his vocal criticism of Sinner.
The Italian returned two positive drug tests in 2024, first testing positive for banned anabolic steroid clostebol during Indian Wells on March 10, then again eight days later.
Sinner sucesfully appealed the tests and was allowed to keep playing while the evidence was assessed.
An independent tribunal later ruled that the two positive tests found an extremely small quantity of the substance in his system – less than a billionth of a gram – was the result of contamination.
Since the announcement in August, Kyrgios has been relentless in his criticism of Sinner and now he has declared he wants the Italian in Melbourne.
‘Let’s be honest, I just want to go out there and I really want to play Sinner,’ Kyrgios said on the Nothing Major podcast.
“I thought about this (the game plan). If I played him in the Australian Open, I would just get every single person in the crowd to get on him. I would just turn it into an absolute riot.
‘All respect would go out the window and I would just do anything to win.’
Kyrgios admitted that he and Sinner do not like each other but that this is good for the sport as people want rivalries.
‘I feel like why we love sport is because you have to have contrast in personalities,’ he said.
‘If I draw Sinner in the Australian Open third round, everyone will watch because it’s contrasting personalities.
‘We don’t like each other, and I think it’s healthy in sport.’
| ROUND | Nick Kyrgios’ Opponents | Jannik Sinner’s Opponents |
| Round of 128 | Jacob Fearnley | Nicolas Jarry |
| Round of 64 | Sebastian Baez or Arthur Cazaux | Tristan Schoolkate or Taro Daniel |
| Round of 32 | Alexander Zverev | Flavio Cobolli |
| Round of 16 | Ugo Humbert | Holger Rune |
| Quarter-final | Casper Ruud | Alex de Minaur |
| Semi-final | Novak Djokovic | Taylor Fritz |
| Jannik Sinner | Jannik Sinner | Nick Kyrgios |
Before any potential Sinner and Kyrgios showdown, the Australian needs to overcome his own injury concerns.
Along with a persisting wrist issue, the 29-year-old sustained an abdominal injury ahead of the Australian Open.
Kyrgios pulled out of his pre-event exhibition game with Novak Djokovic but is still expected to play at Melbourne Park.
Rising British star Jacob Fearnley will face the Australian in the first round, the 23-year-old sits at 86th in the world and won four ATP challenger titles in 2024.
The Australian Open kicks off this Sunday, January 17th with the full draw already revealed as Jack Draper, Emma Radcanu, Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz all learnt their opponents.