MELBOURNE, Australia—Nick Kyrgios, who crushed Gastao Elias in the first round at the Australian Open, says he won't respond to Roger Federer’s statement that he doesn't know if Kyrgios is ready to win the event.

"[The] first week, no problem,” Federer told the Sydney Morning Herald before the tournament. “But to go all the way, it's a long way, and he's never been into a semis before. So first he has to prove to the world, and himself, that he can make the semis. But I'm happy if he proves me wrong."

“I'm not going to, like, say anything back to him about it,” Kyrgios said. “Obviously it's his opinion. We'll see. I've done everything I can so far. What can I say? It's Roger. I can't really say anything to him ... He's the greatest of all time. I know I just want to do my own thing. I played him once, [and] I beat him once.”

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The world No. 13 won three titles last year, in Marseille, Atlanta and Tokyo, and beat Top 10 players Tomas Berdych, Marin Cilic and Milos Raonic. Yet he was up and down mentally and had injury problems, occasionally falling to players below the Top 100. The now-21-year-old beat Federer, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (5), 7-6 (12) in Madrid in 2015.

Despite the odds against him, Kyrgios believes that he can win the tournament.

“Well, if I didn't think I'd win it, why would I play?” he said. “I think I can win it. I've beaten pretty much everyone in the draw before. So I think so.”

Kyrgios will play Andreas Seppi in the second round.