Nick Kyrgios issued the ultimate praise on Roger Federer’s tennis influence, hailing the Swiss tennis icon as “the king of tennis.” Federer, a former 20-time Grand Slam champion, is widely considered the most influential player in tennis history as many credit the Swiss for tennis becoming a much more popular sport in the 21st century.

Federer made playing tennis look easy and his game is regarded as the most aesthetically pleasing tennis ever. “Roger Federer, he’s the guy that you would play in every tennis virtual game at the end in the white vest that you could never beat on hard.

He’s the reason why every single tennis player picks up a racket. So, yeah, he’s the king,” Kyrgios said while exploring Tennis Channel’s Hall of Champs area.

Why Kyrgios believed Federer was ‘the hardest to play again’?

Just days after turning 20, Kyrgios got a chance to play Federer for the first time.

In the 2015 Madrid Masters second round, Kyrgios pulled a stunning 6-7 (1) 7-6 (5) 7-6 (12) win over Federer. After beating Federer in their first match, Kyrgios went on to lose the Swiss in their next six meetings. On the other side, Kyrgios has had more success against other Big Three members as he beat Rafael Nadal three times and Novak Djokovic twice. “I matched up really well against Nadal.

I had the most success against him, but he’s still beaten me a lot of times. Federer could make you feel really miserable. No matter where you played him in the world, he was the fan favorite. Play him in Europe, America, Australia…

Everyone wanted Federer to win all the time. I think Novak is the greatest of all time, but for me, Federer was the hardest to play. Something about him… He was really aggressive and didn’t give you much room to breathe,” Kyrgios said on the Hotboxin’ with Mike Tyson podcast in October.