Less than a year after Novak Djokovic’s offer to coach him, Nick Kyrgios has proposed to reverse the roles with a view to leading the Serb to his first ever Olympic gold medal later this year. Rafael Nadal has been tipped to retire after the Paris Olympic Games if injury issues prevent him from continuing into 2025.
It would certainly be a poetic way for Nadal to call time on his playing days. The 37-year-old won men’s singles gold in Beijing and followed that up with doubles gold in Rio de Janeiro back in 2016.
With the forthcoming Olympics’ tennis tournament set to be played at Roland Garros – the site of Nadal’s 14 French Open victories – the Spaniard will hope to earn a fairytale third gold medal if he is fit and firing by the time of the Games.
But Djokovic, who won bronze in 2008, will be out to stop him, and tennis ally Kyrgios has offered his services in a bid to thwart what could be Nadal’s farewell tournament.
“I’ve shown great consistency in my career,” joked the injury-prone Aussie while commentating on Djokovic’s Australian Open clash with Dino Prizmic on Eurosport. “So maybe he should just hire me as a coach and we’ll get it done.”
Back in April, during Kyrgios’ latest spell on the sidelines, Djokovic said: “I would love to coach Nick Kyrgios. He would win five Slams with me, but it would not come cheap!”
Expanding the 36-year-old’s Grand Slam haul will be high on the priority list for the year ahead. Nadal, meanwhile, is lingering in uncertainty due to a fresh hip issue which ruled him out of the Australian Open.
On his Olympics plans, he said last May: “I would like to play the things that are important for me and of course the Olympic Games is an important competition and one I hope to play. Will it be my last or not? I cannot say.”
