United Cup director defends Nick Kyrgios’ late withdrawal amidst widespread criticism
Nick Kyrgios practicing for United Cup before pulling out (Image: Tennis Australia)
In a rather unfortunate turn of events, Australian tennis professional Nick Kyrgios pulled out of the United Cup, just before the pre-event press conference. Before his unfortunate decision, Kyrgios was looking forward to representing Australia in the inaugural edition of the mixed-gender doubles event. Earlier too Kyrgios had shown his excitement for the event.
Kyrgios cited a niggle for his last-minute withdrawal from the much-awaited tournament, which is a genuine concern in a professional athlete’s career. Still, the media and journalists were quick to criticize the Aussie. In the end, the director of the event Stephen Farrow has come forward to support Kyrgios amidst the widespread criticism.
“He was here yesterday to hang out. I spoke to him. The fact that this announcement arrived late shows how much he wanted to play. He waited until the last possible moment to confirm whether he was able to compete or not,” Stephen Farrow said as reported by The Age. “We would hope that he would be able to participate in the competition, but despite the time, this is not the case,” Farrow further added.
The director also supported Kyrgios’ decision to give importance to the Australian Open scheduled just after the United Cup. “These are things that happen in tennis, especially when you are two weeks away from a Grand Slam. The United Cup is also a big event. But as a player, you have to keep an eye on the Grand Slam tournaments,” Farrow elaborated on his point.
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Nick Kyrgios remained unbothered by the criticism
The 2022 Wimbledon finalist was not spared by the journalists after Kyrgios yet again failed to represent his country. Some of them called him a ‘pure villain’ after his withdrawal from the United Cup. But the Aussie doesn’t care about all the criticism.
“Haha so after all this, all the media, journalism saying how bad I am for the sport, disrespecting the game (and) just a pure villain, I am going to be the number one episode on Netflix… to grow our fan base, basically trying to put tennis on the map again,” the World No 22 tweeted acknowledging his popularity among the fans.
Before the injury, Kyrgios was very excited about the inaugural mixed doubles event which marks the start of the 2023 season. After his plans to play in the event are dashed, Kyrgios must be looking for the Australian Open which is just a couple of weeks away. Kyrgios’ fans don’t have to wait long to see their icon in action again.
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Abhinavendu Singh
(290 Articles Published)