Nick Kyrgios has hit back at criticism from Novak Djokovic, describing the world number one as "a very strange cat" after the Serb said he had little respect for the Australian off court. Kyrgios has waged a running battle with Djokovic, sparked by the Serb`s ill-fated Adria Tour exhibition series last year as the coronavirus pandemic raged. Djokovic said in Melbourne over the weekend he had mixed views on Kyrgios, who recently called him a "tool", respecting his tennis abilities but not his off-court antics. 

"It`s a strange one for me. I read his comments -- he said he doesn`t respect me off the court," said Kyrgios, who has also previously blasted the 17-time Grand Slam winner as having "an obsession with wanting to be liked". "It actually would make complete sense to me if he was like, `I don`t respect the guy on the court`, because I understand if he doesn`t agree with some of my antics on the court that I`ve done in the past. "I`m not quite sure how you can`t respect me off the court," he added. "I feel like I`ve gone about things extremely well, especially during the pandemic."