ESPN Guest Commentator and 2022 Wimbledon Finalist Nick Kyrgios calls Australian Open Matches with Insights and “Rizz”

ESPN’s 15-day coverage of the 2024 Australian Open spans the globe, with ESPN production teams collaborating overnight in Bristol, Conn., with their colleagues 18 hours ahead in Melbourne, Australia. Among them is Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios, the 2022 Wimbledon finalist who has joined the ESPN commentator team while recovering from a lingering wrist injury.

ESPN senior producer Bob Feller explains the behind-the-scenes preparations to onboard the charismatic tennis star, who is making his ESPN on-air debut as a commentator.

What went into preparing Kyrgios, and how is it going?
Nick has been doing a terrific job, and it’s going great. The thing with Nick is his fame is driven by his unique personality, which comes across from his demeanor on-court. The combination of incredible shotmaking, along with his sometimes volatile outbursts, is what the fans love. We want Nick to be Nick. That’s why we hired him, so, not a lot of preparation was needed.

How are you picking who he is paired with and which matches he calls?
We are trying him with different personalities to see how the chemistry changes. Not surprisingly, it’s pretty entertaining listening to him and Johnny Mac [ESPN tennis commentator John McEnroe]. Some would think the high-level personalities would clash, but in reality, it’s been the opposite and quite entertaining.

They have no problem calling each other out on things that may have been said or done by each other in the past, and their responses have been humorous but respectful at the same time. Their passion for the sport is evident as you listen to them talk glowingly about the play of these great players in the matches they are calling.

[ESPN tennis commentator] Patrick [McEnroe] has been great as the “setup” man – knowing exactly when to strike with a controversial topic or statement. [Kyrgios] also has done a great job next to [ESPN commentators] Chris Fowler, Mary Joe Fernandez, and Chris McKendry.

One last note: Nick’s such a diehard [Boston] Celtics fan that if you give him score updates while he’s on the air, he nearly loses it! He doesn’t want to know because it’ll make him crazy!

Spencer T. Jackson produced the video

ESPN’s comprehensive Australian Open coverage culminates with the Women’s and Men’s Championships on Saturday and Sunday, respectively, at 3:30 a.m. ET on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN+. For more details, visit ESPN PressRoom.