"Me and Carlos Alcaraz's opponent grew up together" - Nick Kyrgios jokes about how he was "twice" the size of Li Tu after Spaniard's US Open 1R win

Nick Kyrgios joked about how he was twice the size of Li Tu, Carlos Alcaraz's first-round opponent at the 2024 US Open, when they were kids. The Spaniard clinched a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 win over the Aussie in two hours and 41 minutes to get going at the New York Major. Kyrgios, who has been out of action for over a year, is currently commentating for ESPN at the US Open.

Though Li Tu managed to win a set, Alcaraz dominated the rest of the match to win it in four sets. The post-match interview was taken by none other than Nick Kyrgios, who questioned the Spaniard on his singlet design.

"This is a question for lot of the people in the crowd and myself. I love when you wear singlets out on court here. And I want to know did you design this yourself? Because your arms are looking sensational!" Kyrgios said.

Carlos Alcaraz said that he loved wearing singlets and joked that he wore them in order to scare off his opponents. He later revealed that the humid weather in New York was the reason why he wore singlets at Flushing Meadows.

"I love playing with singlets as well," he said, laughing. "In some tournaments – specific tournaments, I want to play with singlet probably just to make fear to the opponents, or I try," Carlos Alcaraz said smiling.

"But here in New York it’s so hot; so humid, you try not to sweat a lot," the 2022 champion added. "I’m glad you like it. Yeah, I obviously like playing with that."

Nick Kyrgios took to X (formerly Twitter) to post a photo of him and Alcaraz during their interview and a picture of his childhood self alongside Li Tu. He joked about how the first photo was him telling the Spaniard that he grew up with Tu and the second photo was him being twice Tu's size in their growing up days.

"First photo - me telling Carlitos that me and his opponent grew up together. Second photo - me being twice Li’s size at the same age. 😂🥶 goodnight big apple! See you all tomorrow," Kyrgios tweeted.

Carlos Alcaraz will play Botic van de Zandschulp in the second round of the 2024 US Open

Carlos Alcaraz (Image Source: Getty)

Carlos Alcaraz will play Botic van de Zandschulp in the second round of the 2024 US Open, in what will be the third meeting between the two men. The Spaniard currently boasts a 2-0 lead against the Dutchman. Their most recent meeting came in the first round of the 2022 Swiss Indoors Basel, where the Spaniard prevailed in straight sets.

Van de Zandschulp kicked off his campaign with a strong 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 win against former top-10 player Denis Shapovalov. The head-to-head between the two is currently tied at 1-1.

Whoever out of Carlos Alcaraz or Botic van de Zandschulp wins, will take on either 25th seed Jack Draper or Facundo Diaz Acosta in the third round.