Nick Kyrgios left his fellow rivals astounded on Wednesday after abruptly withdrawing from the United Cup the very day earlier than the competitors was set to start out, shortly after Rafael Nadal had commented on the Australian’s potential to take dwelling a Grand Slam title given his “all the weapons” arsenal.
The temperamental star withdrew forward of the brand new mixed-teams occasion in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth, depriving followers of a scheduled conflict between him and the Spanish nice.
Instead, Alex de Minaur will face Nadal in a round-robin singles match.
Australia co-captain Sam Stosur stated they solely discovered about Kyrgios’ withdrawal minutes earlier than a scheduled crew press convention.
“We just found out,” she stated. “We move forward now and do our best on the day.”
The Sydney Morning Herald cited the Kyrgios camp as saying he suffered an ankle harm throughout an exhibition match in Dubai final week.
They added that he practiced in Sydney on Tuesday earlier than deciding towards competing within the United Cup.
His on-court habits has usually betrayed Kyrios,’ however he had a stellar season this 12 months, reaching his first Grand Slam ultimate at Wimbledon, dropping to Novak Djokovic.
He was agonizingly overwhelmed in 5 units within the U.S. Open quarter-finals by Russia’s Karen Khachanov.
Before Kyrgios pulled out of the United Cup, Nadal, who has 22 Grand Slam titles, stated the Australian may rapidly go all the way in which.
The Australian Open subsequent month shall be his first alternative of the 12 months, a match the place the Spaniard is defending champion.
“I know he doesn’t like a lot to play Roland Garros; that’s the only tournament that looks like he doesn’t like to play that much,” stated Nadal in Sydney.
“The remainder of the tournaments, he performed ultimate in Wimbledon, in New York, he was shut with the quarter-finals, I feel, with a really optimistic probability.
“He can win in any tournament that he’s playing. He has all the talent, and the weapons to win against any player. Of course, he can.”
Kyrgios instructed reporters earlier this week that he was “training well, enjoying it, mentally feeling good. That’s all that matters.”
The Australian Open will get underway at Melbourne Park on Jan. 16.
