Nick Kyrgios knows what it takes to beat the best.
Kyrgios has beaten each Big 3 champion, but says one stands alone as GOAT.
Rafael Nadal.
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In an interview with Ultima Hora, the Australian Open double champion was asked which Big 3 champion is GOAT.
"I think it's Rafael Nadal. He now has 22 Grand Slams and the other two, 20," Kyrgios told the publication.
Credit Kyrgios for keeping his word on GOAT.
Last March, Kyrgios said on his No Boundaries podcast if Nadal reclaimed Roland Garors this year, there can be no doubt he is the one, true GOAT.
"If Nadal wins Roland Garros he will undoubtedly be the best of all time,” Kyrgios said then. “If he wins 22 Grand Slams, he has the crown."
Pointing to Nadal's rally from a two-set deficit to defeat Daniil Medvedev in the Australian Open final and the fact the Spanish supersstar became just the third man in ATP history to defeat four Top 10-ranked opponents en route to a Grand Slam title in Paris, solidifies his status as GOAT.
Testy clashes in a ferocious Nadal-Kyrgios rivalry have come on major stages. The temperamental Aussie admitted he tried drilling Nadal "square in the chest" during his second-round Wimbledon loss in 2019.
At the 2020 Australian Open, Kyrgios mocked Nadal's pre-serve ritual by picking at the seat of his shorts. Kyrgios says intensity has fueled his rivalry with Nadal and believes the Spaniard is "something special."
“Rafa is something special there," Kyrgios said. "I’m very different and we’ve had our differences when we’ve played each other.
"We’re competitors and we’re going to go at each other. At the same time, I’m not going to take anything away from him.”
Photo credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve