Djokovic addresses Kyrgios drama, Thiem loss & Wimbledon preparations

Speaking to Serbian press this week, Novak Djokovic addressed Nick Kyrgios' comments after the Australian slammed him in a podcast weeks ago.

In the No Challenges Remaining podcast, Kyrgios made some pointed comments about Djokovic, as well as Rafael Nadal.

Djokovic said he thinks Kyrgios is "not a bad guy," and revealed he offered to help Kyrgios five years ago because he relates to the 24-year-old's public struggles.

"I suffered a lot of criticism at my own expense and went through similar situations," Djokovic said. "I don't know, from that moment something changed, and that's that."

While Kyrgios said the Serbian is an "unbelievable player" and "champion of the sport, one of the greatest," he also added, "I’m sorry, but if you can’t beat me, you’re not the greatest of all time."

Kyrgios openly criticized the 15-time Grand Slam champion's off-court persona and celebration style.

"I just feel like he has a sick obsession with wanting to be liked. He just wants to be like Roger [Federer]," Kyrgios said. "For me personally—I don’t care right now, I’ve come this far—I feel like he just wants to be liked so much that I just can’t stand him."

In Serbian, Djokovic said Kyrgios never addressed him privately on any of these matters.

"I do not know why he said all these things, whether he wants to draw attention or has some other motives," Djokovic said. "Obviously, he wants to be honest, open, transparent—that's part of his character. I respect him, and respect everyone, what can I do? I don't have a problem with that, he can say whatever he wants."

Djokovic closed the door on the drama by saying that the situation is not keeping him up at night.

Djokovic is training this week at the Tipsarevic Academy in Belgrade on hard courts—there are no grass courts in Serbia—and told press that it took him "one night" to get over his loss to Dominic Thiem at Roland Garros.

"When I get home, with two children, I can't let myself waste too much time thinking about tennis and something that has already happened," Djokovic said. "I just have to move on. They help me a lot with that."

Djokovic won't be playing any grass-court warm-up events this year, but will travel to London this weekend to prep for Wimbledon with a few exhibition matches. He played Queen's Club last year because he needed matches, and wanted to raise his ranking from No. 22. He finished runner-up to Marin Cilic and went on to win the first of three consecutive Grand Slam tournaments.

"Right now I am at the top of the world rankings and since I am defending the Wimbledon title, somehow it's logical to hope that I make it all the way [again]," Djokovic said. "There is expectation, and then there is reality, and it's not the first time that I enter a big tournaments with high ambitions."