Nick Kyrgios undoubtedly has one of the most entertaining personas in tennis.

Once described by the legendary Novak Djokovic as a ‘phenomenal’ player, the Australian is vocal with his emotions on and off the court.

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Kyrgios has been a rival of the 24-time Grand Slam champion as well as Rafael Nadal, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Daniil Medvedev.

But one of his more inconspicuous duels comes against Casper Ruud, who the 29-year-old most recently beat at Indian Wells in 2022.

However, their brief two-match history commenced with a fiery clash at the Italian Open three years prior that sparked a war of words.

The pair faced each other in the second round on the clay at the Foro Italico in Rome, with Ruud taking the first set 6-3.

Kyrgios fought back in the second with a 7-6 tiebreak victory but his frustrations boiled over during the early stages of the deciding set.

After Ruud broke his serve to make it 1-1, Kyrgios was given a game penalty for apparently swearing at a line judge.

He then slammed his racket on the court, kicked a bottle and threw a chair before packing his bag, walking off and defaulting the match.

Kyrgios was subsequently given a €20,000 fine for unsportsmanlike conduct, with Ruud offering an elated celebration after his win.

Later on that year, the Norwegian spoke on the match in an interview with Tennisportalen and branded his opponent an ‘idiot’.

“I saw that he wrote a little about it. Okay, he got disqualified but if we look at the H2H between me and Kyrgios it’s 1-0 to me. That means I’ve won against him?

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“He can say as much as he wants about me getting disqualified but it still says 1-0 to me. I don’t know, he was totally crazy when I played him. It was nice to win.

“If I celebrated after the match or not? I don’t care. I was happy I got 90 points and $50,000 in prize money so why wouldn’t I celebrate? It’s his problem that he’s an idiot on court.”

Kyrgios apologised for his behaviour after the match but when he saw Ruud’s comments later in the year, he responded on social media.

“Next time you have something to say, I would appreciate you say it to my face, I’m sure you wouldn’t run your mouth so much after that.

“Until then I will continue to rather watch paint dry than watch you play tennis, boring af.”

Kyrgios was offered the chance to get his own back three years later at Indian Wells, and he certainly made the most of it.

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The wildcard entry faced Ruud in the third round of the tournament in 2022 and won 6-4 6-4 to reach the last 16 in California.

He screamed in celebration after winning match point, before firing a ball into the crowd and shaking his opponent’s hand at the net.

Kyrgios then took aim at Ruud by staring down the camera to say: “I hear no talking now, I hear no talking now. None, f***ing none.”

The pair haven’t met since, but there’s an opportunity for a trilogy match at this year’s Indian Wells Open, which begins on Sunday.

After an injury-hit 2024, Kyrgios announced earlier this year that he is aiming to make a return to the court in Palm Springs.

He was then revealed by the tournament to have entered the playing field on a protected ranking, with world no.5 Ruud also involved.

Kyrgios hasn’t played at Indian Wells since 2022 when he went on to reach the quarter-finals before defeat to Nadal.

Ruud on the other hand has appeared at the Tennis Garden in the previous four years and reached the last eight in 2024.

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