Nick Kyrgios believes his doubters owe him an apology for criticising his decision to withdraw from the United Cup on the day before the pre-Australian Open team tournament began.
Kyrgios was set to line up for Team Australia at Sydney’s Ken Rosewall Arena from Thursday but instead faces a race against the clock to recover from an ankle injury in time for next month’s Australian Open in Melbourne.
The world No.22’s decision to pull out forced a last-minute reshuffle, with Alex de Minaur promoted to top seed in Australia’s men’s singles matches and Jordan Kubler brought in.
Kyrgios’ scratching prompted Ticketmaster to offer fans free tickets to two of the other ties being played later in the tournament.
A case of COVID-19 forced Kyrgios out of the corresponding tournament last summer, the ATP Cup, and he also sat out the Davis Cup in 2022 for a third consecutive year.
His latest withdrawal prompted reaction from his contemporaries, with Stefanos Tsitsipas saying he hoped Kyrgios “enjoys his holidays” and Cameron Norrie admitting was he “disappointed” not to be facing Kyrgios on Thursday.
Kyrgios claimed the media had painted him as a “pure villain” and said he remained a drawcard for the sport, pointing to the forthcoming documentary Point Break in which he is prominently featured.
“Haha so after all this, all the media, journalism saying how bad I am for the sport, disrespecting the game & just a pure villain, I am going to be the number 1 episode on Netflix… to grow our fan base, basically trying to put tennis on the map again,” Kyrgios wrote on Twitter.
“And essentially putting more money in everyone’s pockets that’s involved with tennis, you all look really ridiculous now.
“Your apology should be as loud as your disrespect was.”
Australia faces Great Britain on Thursday evening for their first tie, with the opening match between de Minaur and Norrie set to begin from 7pm local time.
Afterwards, women’s second seed Zoe Hives will face Great Britain’s Katie Swan.
World No.4 Stefanos Tsitsipas has reignited his feud with Nick Kyrgios by saying he hopes the Australian “enjoys his holidays” after pulling out late from the United Cup.
World No.22 Kyrgios was scheduled to spearhead the Australian team, starting against Great Britain’s Cameron Norrie in Sydney on Thursday night, but withdrew from the mixed-gender tournament ahead of Wednesday’s team press conference.
Kyrgios’ Australian teammates only learned 10 minutes before their press conference that he would no longer be joining them.
He was also due to play Rafael Nadal in the most eagerly anticipated match-up of the event when Australia meets Spain next week.
Tsitsipas wasn’t shocked at his rival’s withdrawal. “I don’t see it as a surprise. I hope he enjoys his holidays,” Tsitsipas said in Perth.
(Photo by Diego Souto/Quality Sport Images/Getty Images)
They have a history of bad blood – at Wimbledon last year the Greek star called Kyrgios “a bully” for his antics on court after the Australian had pleaded with the chair umpire to kick him out of the tournament for hitting a ball into the fans in the stand.
Kyrgios faces a race against time to hit peak form and fitness for his Australian Open tilt.
The 2022 Wimbledon finalist has reportedly been dealing with an ankle injury suffered in an exhibition tournament in Dubai last week and has prioritised his Melbourne Park campaign.
The United Cup, along with the second Adelaide International event in January, was to form part of Kyrgios’ local preparation for a big crack at his home grand slam after his stellar 2022 season.
Team captain Samantha Stosur said she hadn’t spoken to Kyrgios about his decision and wouldn’t be drawn on whether he would be fit for the Open.
“I’m not going to speak for Nick’s summer, we’ve got to leave that for him,” Stosur told reporters.
With Kyrgios out, world No.24 Alex de Minaur will move into the No.1 men’s position for Team Australia and play against Norrie and Nadal, with world No.107 Jason Kubler – the fifth-ranked Aussie male – promoted to the No.2 spot.
De Minaur was unwilling to focus on Kyrgios, instead wanting to talk about the rest of the Australian team.
“Ultimately we’re just going to get ready,” de Minaur told reporters.
“We’ve got a great team and we’re all going to be out there doing our best.
Nick Kyrgios (Photo by Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images)
“So ultimately the only thing that changes is match-ups and that’s about it.”
Kyrgios was due to represent Australia for the first time since the now-defunct ATP Cup in 2020, having sat out the Davis Cup for the past three years, as well as the Tokyo Olympics.
“Like ‘Demon’ said, we just move forward now. We’re all happy to be here and keen to get out there,” Stosur said.
“Now that (Kyrgios news) is out there and we move forward with the placings of the team and do our best on the day.
“As far as the men’s side of this team goes, we’re in very capable hands still.
“So I’m not concerned that our chances have just diminished greatly or anything like that. We’re out here to do everything we can possible to try and win this competition.”
Norway’s world No.3 Casper Ruud grinned when asked about the status of his feud with Nick Kyrgios.
“I didn’t receive a Christmas card from him nor he a Chrissie one from me but if we see each other we can say hello. There are no hard feelings,” said Ruud on Wednesday at a Norwegian team media conference ahead of the United Cup.
The feud started in their first meeting at the Italian Open in 2019 when Kyrgios threw a chair and was defaulted. After his win Ruud labelled Kyrgios “an idiot on the court” and said he should be banned from tennis for six months.
The Australian hit back on Twitter, daring Ruud to say it to his face and stating that he’d “rather watch paint dry then watch you play tennis”.
At Indian Wells this year Kyrgios beat Ruud 6-4 6-4 and looked straight down the camera after the win and said: “I hear no talking now. None.”
The 24-year-old Ruud conceded there had been “a little feud” but added that it had thawed.
“You don’t want to have a feud going on against him because he will probably want to bring his A game whenever he plays you,” he said.
“He came to me in the Laver Cup last year in Boston and congratulated me after my victory so he has been positive and cheering me on the last year or so.
“It was (good) to see him do so well at Wimbledon (this year) and coaching himself to the final.”
Ruud said Kyrgios was “a fun character” and looked forward to a possible “fun match” between the pair this summer, although it won’t be in the United Cup after Kyrgios’ withdrawal from the Australian team on Wednesday.
Ruud was acknowledged for his fair play when he was selected by fellow ATP players as the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award winner for 2022.
“It is nice to be ‘a good sport’ as you would say here in Australia,” he said. “I get frustrated a lot myself. It is not like I am some kind of angel on court but I guess throughout the year I have been able to behave good enough to get this recognition from the players.”
Ruud missed the 2022 Australian Open after rolling his ankle a day before the tournament started but he has enjoyed a superb year, reaching the final of both the French Open and US Open.
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