Just 24 hours before the initiation of the new United Cup, Australian tennis professional Nick Kyrgios declares his withdrawal from the event.
Nick Kyrgios, the young Australian tennis star is currently ranked 22nd in ATP singles standings. This year he successfully reached the finals and quarterfinals of Wimbledon and US Open respectively. Kyrgios was set to participate the latest ATP and WTA mixed tournament with the Australian team. However, his sudden withdrawal from the team left other teammates seriously surprised.
As the Australian team was getting ready for their pre-tournament news conference on Wednesday, news about Kyrgios withdrawal was publicly disclosed. The departure of their leading seed was a critical step back for the Australian team. Team captain Sam Stosur told the media, “We literally just found out 10 minutes ago.”
There has been no direct statement from Kyrgios yet. However, several injuries were shown as the reason of this sudden withdrawal. Interestingly this is not the first time, the 27-years old Australian withdrew from a team event. Previously, he also opted out of Australia’s Davis Cup team this year.
For now, Alex de Minaur will be shifting to the leading seed position, replacing Nick Kyrgios in the Australian team. He was optimist about the newly founded event during the press conference. There he said, “I think it would be great if we just talk about this great team.” Minaur added, “We are all here, we are all happy to be here, we are about to play an exciting new event, something new for all of us – the United Cup.”
United Cup is a new mixed team tennis tournament with a massive $15 million prize pool. 18 international teams are participating in the event, that is scheduled to run from this December 29th. Australia will be competing with Spain and Great Britain during the initial stage of the event.
