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John Millman believes that the likes of Nick Kyrgios, Taylor Fritz and Hubert Hurkacz will have good chances at the Australian Open considering the new balls that will be used at Melbourne Park. Millman, 33, has started preparing for the Australian summer.
Millman is preparing for the new season in his hometown of Brisbane. There, Millman had the opportunity to test the new balls that will be used at the Australian Open. "After hitting the Dunlop AO 2023 last week, my general observation is that they are light and fast, especially when new.
Not the easiest to control early on, even in the wet conditions I find myself in in Brisbane." NK, Hurkacz, Fritz all very dangerous this AO," Millman wrote on Twitter. Asked by a fan to compare the new Australian Open balls to those already used at the US Open, Millman said: "I think they are a bit lighter, especially when new.
I'm not sure how they behave on the courts in Melbourne, but in Brisbane they favor relatively fast conditions." Last week, Millman gave his opinion on the use of Adderall in tennis. After Fernando Verdasco forgot to renew his Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) and failed a drug test for an ADHD drug, some players suggested there is widespread use of Adderall in the world of tennis.
"In general I don't like TUEs in professional sport. It opens too many loopholes for 'legally doping' - very unfortunate for those who have a legitimate need as is likely the case here. However, it has long been known that if you want to dope, get a TUE.
Also, this is one of the reasons why I believe Simona Halep is innocent. If she really wanted to enhance her performance with a substance, she could have resorted to a TUE."
Kyrgios on the 2023 AO
Nick Kyrgios said fans in his country see him as a "legitimate" contender for Major titles and that adds to the pressure.
“In real life, there’s not much pressure to being a professional tennis player. We earn great money, we travel around the world with our favourite people. We get to see different people, different cultures. In the scheme of things, that’s not pressure," the Aussie said.
"But I completely understand going on the match court with all this expectation that ‘Nick Kyrgios is legitimate chance to win a Grand Slam now’, there’s a lot of pressure there especially having the Australian Open and everyone in Australia expecting big things from me. It’s a lot to handle sometimes. Being in the spotlight is not easy," he added.