Wimbledon 2018: Nick Kyrgios most talented player since Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, says John McEnroe

John McEnroe believes Kyrgios belongs in the same league as Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal

Three-time Wimbledon champion John McEnroe has said that Nick Kyrgios is the most talented tennis player he has seen since the emergence of Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray.

Kyrgios burst onto the scene aged 19 when he reached the quarter-finals of the 2014 Wimbledon Championships — upsetting then world no. 1 Rafael Nadal and world no. 13 Richard Gasquet en route.

However that remains his best performance at a Grand Slam to date. And last week the 23-year-old Australian admitted in a candid interview with The Independent last week that he knows he must begin adding more consistency to his game.

But McEnroe has said that — on talent alone — Kyrgios is up there with the best of the world and has backed him to begin troubling the later stages of Grand Slams soon.

“Nick (Krygios) to me is the most talented tennis player of the last 10 years I’ve seen, since Djokovic, Murray, Nadal, Federer,” said McEnroe, speaking on behalf of ESPN.co.uk. “He’s an incredible talent.

“Certainly he’s one of the most dangerous guys. He’d be one of the six, eight guys (that could win).

“Obviously Novak (Djokovic) looks to be heading in the right direction.”

Fellow three-time Wimbledon champion Chrissie Evert meanwhile added that Kyrgios’ biggest battle in the months and years ahead will be mastering his occasionally erratic temperament.

“The thing about Nick (Krygios), he is his own person. We can just stand by and marvel at his talent, appreciate the big wins, but expect the big losses, too. This is his temperament,” she said.

“I don’t know how much you can teach, again, hunger and focus and commitment. I mean, you can encourage it, but until it gets into his persona, until it gets into his conscience and his heart, we’re not going to see the best of Nick Kyrgios. It’s just the way he is.

“Again, it’s very often that the most talented players, when things come very easy to them, sometimes mentally they’re not as tough because they don’t have to be.”