"Hyping up his wins from 6 years ago" - Tennis fans taunt Nick Kyrgios for boasting about victory against supreme Novak Djokovic

Watching Novak Djokovic's utterly dominant performance against Alex de Minaur, Nick Kyrgios expressed more pride in his own achievement of beating the Serbian great. As the nine-time champion played an almost flawless match against Kyrgios' compatriot de Minaur at the Australian Open on Monday, Kyrgios was in awe of Djokovic's performance but also cheekily reminded fans and followers that he is one of the players to have beaten the brilliant Serb.

But Kyrgios' words did not sit well with many in the tennis fan community, who in turn reminded Kyrgios that he beat a below-par Djokovic many years ago.

The 21-time Grand Slam champion did not allow de Minaur to find his feet in the fourth-round match whatsoever, winning 6-2, 6-1, 6-2 in just over two hours on the court. With the Serb's game looking better as the match progressed, Kyrgios reacted to the same.

"Watching Novak tonight makes me feel good about my tennis in general. How have I beaten this guy," Nick Kyrgios wrote on Twitter.

Kyrgios has beaten Djokovic twice in their three matches on tour, with both those wins coming in straight sets and on hard courts in 2017. The first of those matches was a quarterfinal clash at the Acapulco Open, while the next one was in the Round of 16 of the Indian Wells Masters.

While many tennis fans taunted Kyrgios by reminding him that he beat the Serbian great in one of the worst seasons of his career during which he was plagued by injuries, a few others criticized him for 'living in the past.'

"This guy is hyping up his wins from 6 years ago," a fan expressed on Twitter.

"You beat him in literally his worst period of his career, mate. In 2017 he was losing to everyone, being injured. That’s pretty much why," another fan wrote in response.

Here are a few more reactions from tennis fans to Nick Kyrgios' post:

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Novak Djokovic next faces Andrey Rublev as pressure of 22nd Grand Slam title mounts

Novak Djokovic celebrates during the 2023 Australian Open.

After producing arguably his best performance at the 2023 Australian Open so far, Novak Djokovic will face 5th seed Andrey Rublev in the quarterfinals on Wednesday. The 35-year-old is now three wins away from a record-equalling 22nd Grand Slam singles title and a record-extending 10th singles title at the Australian Open. The Serb has beaten Rublev twice in three matches, winning both their matches on hard courts quite convincingly.

The two players last faced each other quite recently when the Serb won their ATP Finals group stage contest 6-4, 6-1. If he beats Rublev on Wednesday, he will face the winner of the all-American contest between Ben Shelton and Tommy Paul.

Apart from the Serbian superstar, Stefanos Tsitsipas is the only player left in the draw to have previously reached a Grand Slam final.