“Was so up Novak Djokovic’s a** that he’s gotten sh*t about it” – Andrea Petkovic on Nick Kyrgios backing Stefanos Tsitsipas to win Australian Open

Former tennis professional Andrea Petkovic recently claimed that Nick Kyrgios has picked Stefanos Tsitsipas over Novak Djokovic as the favorite to win the Australian Open 2024.

Tsitsipas finished as the runner-up at the Melbourne Major in 2023 as he lost to Djokovic in the final. He has already made it to the fourth round of the Happy Slam this year.

The Greek dropped the first set in his first two matches over unseeded opponents but stepped up his game against Luca Van Assche in the third round and secured a 6-3, 6-0, 6-4 victory. He is scheduled to play Taylor Fritz for a spot in the quarterfinals.

Andrea Petkovic and tennis coach Rennae Stubbs talked about Tsitsipas' performance during a recent episode of The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast.

"Stef Tsitsipas looked really good against Van Assche, I mean Van Assche is a good young player but he just got out so it’s good signs for Tsitsipas because he’s been struggling through the tournament," Stubbs said. (at 4:03)

"Especially after Kyrgios named him the tournament favorite," Petkovic remarked.

Petkovic further ribbed Kyrgios about his recent statements on Djokovic and suggested he picked Tsitsipas only to get rid of the "Novak fanboy" tag.

"I feel like he was so up Novak’s a** for the past two weeks that he has gotten sh*t about it and he was like, ‘Okay I’ve to pick somebody else just so people think that I’m not a Novak fanboy only’," the German added.

Stubbs doubled down on Kyrgios and said:

"Or 'I've to become Novak’s manager."

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"It doesn’t even matter if Novak Djokovic’s at a 100 percent or not in the first week of Australian Open" - Andrea Petkovic

Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic has also reached the fourth round of the Australian Open 2024, but, in his own words, he is far from his best in Melbourne.

During the same conversation, Andrea Petkovic opined that given the Serb's prowess, he need not be the best version of himself while competing. She said (at 5:00):

"Sometimes I wonder if he honestly times his preparation to peak in the second week of Grand Slams. You know, everyone else normally times their peak performance for Slams in general.

"But with him, it sometimes feels, especially at the Australian Open, he’s the best player in the world, he played Davis Cup so he probably needed some rest, he started training later so maybe he just started tennis a little bit later and just when it matters, he will start to peak. And he’s so much better that it doesn’t even matter if he’s at a 100 percent or not in the first week of the Australian Open."

Djokovic will take on France's Adrian Mannarino in the fourth round on Sunday, January 21, at Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne.