Nick Kyrgios fires back at 'absurd' criticism and compares himself to Novak Djokovic

Nick Kyrgios compared himself to two of tennis' greats during a passionate defence of his on-court antics. The Aussie has taken a step back from tennis over the last year, but Kyrgios is still considered one of the most fiery players on the circuit.

Not afraid to chat back to an umpire or chirp in the ear of his opponent, Kyrgios' reputation often goes before him. But when quizzed about his actions on the court, the former Wimbledon runner-up claimed it was okay because Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic have behaved in similar ways, too.

Speaking on the Unscripted podcast, he said: "I just think the whole media in today's day and age is just it's it's a disgrace. It's not even who's right anymore. It's just who's first. They'll just say anything. And some of the things I've seen like written like about me have just been just absurd."

He continued: "For instance, the whole like smashing rackets thing and bro, everyone smashes rackets. Like Serena Williams smashes rackets, Novak Djokovic. It's very normal for a tennis player to smash rackets. I just feel like mine has been for some reason flipped on its head. It's like this guy's a disgrace to the game because he smashes racket. I'm like, 'Bro, everyone smashes rackets.' Like every single person to smash the racket."

Kyrgios isn't one to hold back when he feels like he's got a grievance to share, with the former Australian Open junior champion hinting at some discrepancies between how certain players are umpired. One of those he pointed towards was Rafael Nadal, who Kyrgios believes was left off the hook too often by the officials.

He said: "You have a timer to serve between points right? It should be 25 seconds. So Rafa is just known for like, dragging out the times. There have been times when he's taken a minute and a half to begin points and no one says a word. But then like as soon as it's 26 seconds, they're like, 'code violation, loss of serve', and I'm like, 'brother, is there any discretion here or is it just like Rafa can do whatever he wants?... He's the greatest of all time. We don't like each other but I respect (him)."