Craig Tiley comes to Nick Kyrgios’ defense over United Cup withdrawal
Follow Us
Craig Tiley shared his opinions over Nick Kyrgios' withdrawal from United Cup 2023
Every tennis fan was unexpectedly waiting to watch Nick Kyrgios play at the mixed-gender team event, United Cup. This was the first time in the last three years that he had agreed to play for his country Australia at a multi-national event. However, just a day before the start of this tournament, the 27-year-old decided to withdraw from the competition because of an ankle injury.
Nick Kyrgios last played in Davis Cup in 2019 and in the ATP Cup in 2020 for Australia. He received an invitation to play in the Davis Cup Finals in 2022. However, he declined the offer. Australia finished as runners-up in Davis Cup 2022.
Craig Tiley, President of Tennis Australia and Director of Australian Open, has lent much-needed support to the 2022 Australian Open doubles champion in the face of widespread criticism.
“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,” he said in a recent interview.
Nick Kyrgios is looking to give his body some time to recover from this injury as he wants to participate in the Australian Open 2023. He is the crowd-favorite to win this year’s title.
Related Stories: Rafael Nadal’s incredible season prompts changes at the Rafa Nadal Museum
Australian players are unhappy over Nick Kyrgios’ decision
The sudden withdrawal of Nick Kyrgios from the United Cup has not gone down well with either Australian fans or players. The 27-year-old was supposed to start the Australian campaign at United Cup by playing against Team Great Britain’s Cameron Norrie. However, in his place, Alex de Minaur played and lost in straight sets.
Lleyton Hewitt, who is the captain of the Australian team, looked very disappointed with Nick Kyrgios’ decision to withdraw from the competition.
“I was in the same boat as all the other players yesterday. I didn’t know any more (than others). It was pretty tough for everyone. It was more probably the lack of communication and these guys not knowing. I’m so proud of this bloke (de Minaur) and the effort and how he makes playing for his country a priority. It’s something I’m very proud of him for. I think for the whole team it was pretty tough not knowing what was going on the last 24 hours,” he elaborated upon the situation following Australia’s No.1 ranked player’s withdrawal.
Craig Tiley, however, is optimistic that Nick Kyrgios will recover soon from his injury and begin playing.
“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 playing 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,” he added further.
Australian fans will hope that Team Australia will recover from these early losses and get back to winning ways to lift the trophy on home soil.
Related Stories: Complete ATP calendar for the 2023 season
Related Stories: “Heaps fun,” Thanasi Kokkinakis responds to Novak Djokovic’s challenge at the Adelaide International
Stay Updated!
Abhar Indorkar
(451 Articles Published)