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Stefanos Tsitsipas says Nick Kyrgios' withdrawal from the United Cup shouldn't come as a surprise, also suggesting that he didn't really enjoy playing doubles with the Australian. Today, Kyrgios announced his late withdrawal from the United Cup, citing an ankle injury.
Kyrgios' late withdrawal left the Australian team "stunned", which failed to realize the 27-year-old was struggling with injury. "I don't think it's a surprise. I don't see it as a surprise. I hope you enjoy your vacation," Tsitsipas said when asked about Kyrgios' late withdrawal.
In early December, Tsitsipas and Kyrgios were paired for the Diriyah Tennis Cup doubles event. Tsitsipas and Kyrgios did not win the title as Hubert Hurkacz and Dominic Stricker prevailed over both 7-6(3) 7-6(3). "What can I say? It's hard to focus, for sure.
I've played doubles with a lot of guys, girls too, not that many actually. It is very difficult to concentrate. I don't know where that energy comes from. There is so much. You want to go to yours. You want to focus on your own half of the pitch.
There is only noise coming from the other side. It's a distraction. It's not easy," Tsitsipas explained. Tsitsipas and Kyrgios had a heated match at Wimbledon just five months earlier and tensions ran high throughout the match.
After Kyrgios rallied from a set down to beat Tsitsipas in the third round, the Greek described the Australian as "an evil bully" in his post-match press conference.
Nick Kyrgios will play the 2023 AO
Criticized for withdrawing from the United Cup at the very last moment, Nick Kyrgios, who was quick to respond, received the support of his federation president and director of the Australian Open, Craig Tiley.
The latter, speaking on the Australian channel Today, spoke at length to explain the package of the one everyone was waiting for in this new mixed team competition. “We had conversations with Nick. He makes a precautionary decision to protect his ankle in his preparation for the Australian Open.
He gave himself, in our opinion, the best possible chance by maximizing the time until he was cleared to withdraw from the event. Most athletes – this is Nick's case – will give themselves the best possible chance to compete and make a decision as late as possible.
It's more difficult when you're in the United Cup, which is a team competition, so it impacts others, but withdrawals are quite common...when players are preparing for a major event and they have several preliminary events.
We have Adelaide starting and Hobart coming in…there will probably be other athletes in the same situation as Nick. We're confident he'll be fine, and we can't wait to see him play. He loves to play the Australian Open, we've seen the energy he brings to the court and I think the big challenge will be deciding which court to put him on."