Greek tennis star Stefanos Tsitsipas has instructed rival Nick Kyrgios to “enjoy his holidays” after the Australian shocked his staff by withdrawing from the United Cup on the final minute.
Kyrgios pulled out of the combined groups occasion on the eve of the inaugural event, to be held in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth.
Australian co-captain Sam Stosur stated she discovered about Kyrgios’ withdrawal simply 10 minutes earlier than the official pre-tournament press convention. Aussie gamers, together with Alex de Minaur, stated they’d not been instructed why Kyrgios had chosen to skip the occasion.
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Nine reported Kyrgios suffered an ankle harm whereas taking part in an exhibition event in Dubai final week and he’ll relaxation up till the Australian Open begins on January 16.
Kyrgios’ withdrawal was met with dry scorn from a few of his ATP Tour rivals, together with Tsitsipas.
“It is not a surprise, I hope he enjoys his holidays,” Tsitsipas stated in Perth.
The pair have had a fractious relationship which got here to a head at Wimbledon this 12 months when Tsitsipas stated his Australian opponent had an “evil side”, after a bad-tempered third-round match.
That contest descended into mayhem when a pissed off Tsitsipas hit the ball into the group after shedding the second set and Kyrgios instructed the umpire his opponent ought to be kicked out of the event.
The unhealthy feeling bubbled up once more in post-match press conferences, with Tsitsipas calling him “a bully”.
“I don’t know where all of his energy comes from,” Tsitsipas stated Wednesday of Kyrgios. “There is so much of it, I don’t know how he does it.
“You cannot concentrate on your own game, there is so much noise coming from the other side of the net. It’s distracting, you have to be at your best to overcome it all.”
Their rivalry roared once more in October when Tsitsipas’ mom Julia Apostoli stated Kyrgios performed “dirty tennis” in opposition to her son.
Kyrgios’ choice to skip one other probability to characterize his nation comes after he stated earlier this month that he could by no means play for Australia once more.
After Australia misplaced the David Cup remaining to Canada final month, staff captain Lleyton Hewitt and Aussie No.1 Alex de Minaur each revealed they’d requested Kyrgios to play.
Kyrgios prompt he wasn’t inclined to play for Australia whereas the general public sentiment for him remained lukewarm.
“Maybe if Australia embraced me a little bit more, I would play it and bring home the trophy,” Kyrgios instructed AAP.
“But who knows?”
Kyrgios adopted his shock withdrawal with a publish on Instagram two hours later displaying him having fun with an outing at Sydney’s Darling Harbour with a caption “Beautiful day”. The publish included a laughing emoji.
World No. 3 Casper Ruud additionally spoke about his earlier dramas with Kyrgios forward of the event starting in Brisbane on Thursday.
“I didn’t receive a Christmas card from him, nor him from me but if we see each other we can say hello,” Ruud stated.
“There’s no hard feelings, honestly. I mean, there was little feud and the media always want to make that seem more than it is but Nick is such a talented player and he can beat anyone.
“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.
“There’s nothing really going on. What happened in Rome happened and he got the better of me last time at Indian Wells.”
Meanwhile, eighteen international locations will compete within the United Cup throughout 11 days from Thursday, with the three cities all internet hosting group video games in a round-robin format earlier than a finals collection in Sydney.
Ties comprise two males’s and two ladies’s singles matches and one combined doubles. Tsitsipas stated the Greek staff was psyched up about attempting to steer a minor tennis nation to massive achievements within the new event.
“We are all doing this together,” he stated of the squad’s spirit. “Our staff all have their eyes on the prize, however this (successful) can solely be achieved by combining forces and committing daily.
“When it involves tennis, staff occasions are my favorite. I’ve numerous religion within the gamers on our squad, we’re all striving for excellence collectively
— with AFP
