Nick Kyrgios jokingly said it was “love at first sight” between him and Andy Murray, and the pair “can’t stop looking at each other”, ahead of their Wimbledon clash on Monday.
The Australian, 21, goes up against tournament favourite Murray for a place in the quarter-finals, but spent the build-up showering the 2013 champion with heartfelt compliments.
“Our relationship’s pretty good,” Kyrgios, the 15th seed, said.
“We joke a lot. When he’s in the locker room, it’s just instant banter. We just have a lot of fun. He’s a very relaxed guy, down to earth. He baits me a lot of time. He’s always very funny. He’s a great guy. It’s awesome.
“It was love at first sight.”
Kyrgios continued his jovial behaviour when said he was impressed with Murray’s athletic prowess, and said he spends time just staring at the British world No 2 in the locker room.
“When you look at Andy, you just look at him, he’s a great athlete.
“When Andy walks in, we see each other, we just give each other a look. We can’t stop looking at each other for a bit.”
More from Wimbledon:
• Wimbledon Day 7 Live: Tsonga prevails in Isner marathon, Kyrgios sets up Murray clash
• Poll: Who is the favourite to win Wimbledon now Novak Djokovic is out?
• Roger Federer on Marcus Willis fairytale: 'One of best stories in a long time' at Wimbledon
But Kyrgios said he was also awestruck by seven-time Wimbledon winner Roger Federer and defending champion Novak Djokovic, who was knocked out of the tournament on Saturday by Sam Querrey.
“When I see Roger, everyone sort of just looks at Roger,” Kyrgios said. “Roger has an aura about him. I think he’s the greatest player of all time. I just watch him. I don’t say anything. It’s the same with Novak.
“But Andy, I don’t know, it’s different.”
Kyrgios said the downing of Djokovic meant the 16 players left in the draw all felt that bit closer to the Wimbledon title, especially Murray and Federer.
“As soon as Novak loses, you look at Andy and you look at Federer’s eyes light up. They think that their chances probably doubled,” he said.
“I think a lot of people in the locker room now believe they can win it. If the stars align and they’re playing well, there’s a lot of people that can go get it.”
Murray is the favourite for the title, Federer second and Kyrgios fourth behind Milos Raonic.
Kyrgios set up the Murray clash by beating Spanish 22nd seed Feliciano Lopez 6-3, 6-7 (2/7), 6-3, 6-4 on Sunday.
Controversy seems to follow Kyrgios wherever he goes, but Murray is one of the few players who defends the temperamental Canberran.
“He backs me up a lot, which is good. It’s just good to have one of the best players in the world, to have a good friend like that. I see him at times more than I see my family,” Kyrgios said.
Murray said the troubles surrounding Kyrgios were largely down to the press trying to provoke a reaction.
“You’re trying to wind him up the whole time. It’s not really fair on him,” Murray, 29, saids.
“When he makes a mistake, yeah, it’s fine.
“But it happens a lot where it doesn’t seem like he’s really done much in comparison to what other players are doing, and he’s the one that gets asked all the questions about it.
“I’m sure over time he’ll start to do better and understand better how to deal with all of the attention and the questions and stuff. But sometimes he hasn’t done loads wrong, and he’s got a rough ride.”
Follow us on Twitter @NatSportUAE
Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/TheNationalSport
SPEC SHEET: APPLE IPHONE 15 PRO MAX
Display: 6.7" Super Retina XDR OLED, 2796 x 1290, 460ppi, 120Hz, 2000 nits max, HDR, True Tone, P3, always-on
Processor: A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 6-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Memory: 8GB
Capacity: 256/512GB / 1TB
Platform: iOS 17
Main camera: Triple: 48MP main (f/1.78) + 12MP ultra-wide (f/2.2) + 12MP 5x telephoto (f/2.8); 5x optical zoom in, 2x optical zoom out; 10x optical zoom range, digital zoom up to 25x; Photonic Engine, Deep Fusion, Smart HDR 4, Portrait Lighting
Main camera video: 4K @ 24/25/30/60fps, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps, HD @ 30fps, slo-mo @ 120/240fps, ProRes (4K) @ 60fps; night, time lapse, cinematic, action modes; Dolby Vision, 4K HDR
Front camera: 12MP TrueDepth (f/1.9), Photonic Engine, Deep Fusion, Smart HDR 4, Portrait Lighting; Animoji, Memoji
Front camera video: 4K @ 24/25/30/60fps, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps, slo-mo @ 120/240fps, ProRes (4K) @ 30fps; night, time lapse, cinematic, action modes; Dolby Vision, 4K HDR
Battery: 4441mAh, up to 29h video, 25h streaming video, 95h audio; fast charge to 50% in 30min (with at least 20W adaptor); MagSafe, Qi wireless charging
Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC (Apple Pay), second-generation Ultra Wideband chip
Biometrics: Face ID
I/O: USB-C
Durability: IP68, water-resistant up to 6m up to 30min; dust/splash-resistant
Cards: Dual eSIM / eSIM + eSIM (US models use eSIMs only)
Colours: Black titanium, blue titanium, natural titanium, white titanium
In the box: iPhone 15 Pro Max, USB-C-to-USB-C woven cable, one Apple sticker
Price: Dh5,099 / Dh5,949 / Dh6,799
FA CUP FINAL
Chelsea 1
Hazard (22' pen)
Manchester United 0
Man of the match: Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
Paris Can Wait
Dir: Eleanor Coppola
Starring: Alec Baldwin, Diane Lane, Arnaud Viard
Two stars
THE BIO
Bio Box
Role Model: Sheikh Zayed, God bless his soul
Favorite book: Zayed Biography of the leader
Favorite quote: To be or not to be, that is the question, from William Shakespeare's Hamlet
Favorite food: seafood
Favorite place to travel: Lebanon
Favorite movie: Braveheart
Hot Seat
Director: James Cullen Bressack
Stars: Mel Gibson, Kevin Dillon, Shannen Doherty, Sam Asghari
Rating: 1/5
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-finals, first leg
Liverpool v Roma
When: April 24, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Anfield, Liverpool
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Why it pays to compare
A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.
Route 1: bank transfer
The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.
Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount
Total received: €4,670.30
Route 2: online platform
The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.
Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction
Total received: €4,756
The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.