NiKo on getting Top 5: I am not sure I fully deserve it
The Bosnian is happy to begin a new year after calling 2022 “one of the worst years of his career”.
2022 ended on a high note for G2 with the win at BLAST World Finals. But until then the year had been almost disastrous for the star-studded roster, who had to make several roster changes during the year, where a failed qualification for the IEM Rio was the big downturn.
- 2022 was honestly a tough year. A lot of disappointing results. I would even argue that it was one of the worst years of my career. Apart from winning BLAST World Finals, it was a very shaky year. We have done a lot of mistakes on the server and outside the server. So, it was not amazing.
Despite his own emotions about the year, Nikola 'NiKo' Kovač ended up winning HLTV’s Opener of the Year award and was ranked the fifth-best player of 2022.
- I was happy with it, but I am not sure that I fully deserve it. But considering the year and how it went, I am more than happy with the placement that I got.
It was the fifth time in his career, that the 25-year-old NiKo has been ranked among the best five players in the world. His best placement was in 2017 when he came in second. But is there still a chance for him to become the best player in the world?
- I will do my best. But I think it is harder now with m0NESY on the team. We are giving him a lot of space. He needs to shine. He is definitely a star player. He deserves all the space that he gets. I think it’s just much harder for me to perform as I did in 2020 with the old lineup. I think I can definitely do better than what I did last year, but I am not sure it is enough to become the number one player.
G2 will face BIG on Friday in the opening round of Group C at BLAST Spring Groups.
You can see the entire interview with NiKo down below, where he also talks about m0NESY, and what he expects from the youngster in 2023.
