Roger Federer and Nick Kyrgios
Roger Federer and Nick Kyrgios have faced each other three times, all of which were close contests. Pictured: Federer of Switzerland shakes hand with Kyrgios of Australia and returning to the top position in the ATP global ranking during day 6 of the Mercedes Cup at Tennisclub Weissenhof in Stuttgart, Germany, on June 16, 2018. Alex Grimm/Getty Images

Recalling his Laver Cup match against Nick Kyrgios, Roger Federer said the Australian is exciting to watch and play against and is a great challenge.

Federer was a part of Team Europe, while Kyrgios was in Team World and the tennis tournament was played on indoor hard courts at the Palexpo in Geneva between Sept. 20 and 22.

Out of the 12 matches played in the Laver Cup, nine belonged to the singles category. Ahead of the second day at Laver Cup 2019, Federer told his teammates he was ready to compete against Kyrgios if they wanted him to.

In an interview with Tennis Channel, Federer revealed that he always liked the "prospect of playing Kyrgios."

"He is exciting to watch, a great challenge and exciting to play against. The first three ones were incredibly tight, three-set tie-breakers in Madrid, Miami, Stuttgart. When he is serving well, chances are not there a lot. You just have to try to be with him, try to make him work hard and try to make him earn it. In Prague it was a classic while in Chicago it was much closer," the 20-time Grand Slam winner added.

Federer even spoke about his straight-set win over Kyrgios in the third round of US Open 2018. "It has got to do something with Nick's performance. I played well, maybe he was not up to the standards that we know Nick can play against the best players."

"But I took advantage of that. He has had great results this year winning in Acapulco I believe and Washington beating great players there so his game is probably where he wants it to be. He got a great start," Federer said.

When asked about his future in tennis, Federer insisted that he won't stop playing next season and believes he can play up to 40 years. With Rafael Nadal just one Grand Slam win away from leveling with Federer, the latter definitely would want to win a couple more to increase the gap between his record and Nadal.

Federer and Nadal are expected to play in Shanghai next week, while Kyrgios, who is under six-month probation, is out of action due to a shoulder injury and might return to play in Vienna next.

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