Kyrgios will play Open
AUSSIE STAR IN ‘NO DOUBT’ FOR GRAND SLAM
NICK Kyrgios has not ruled out a last-minute exhibition match at next week’s Kooyong Classic as he remains in Canberra ahead of the looming Australian Open.
The 27-year-old withdrew from the Adelaide International late on Wednesday, but his team remains adamant he is in no doubt for the Australian Open, which begins at Melbourne Park on January 16.
Kyrgios returned to his home city of Canberra in a bid to continue his rehabilitation from the issue that reared its head in December, with the focus in coming days on ramping up his training load with the grand slam just 10 days away.
He has been training in the ACT with his team and plans to remain there until next Thursday.
“It’s about getting Nick to be the healthiest he can be,” Kyrgios’s manager Daniel Horsfall said on Thursday.
“No one is ever going to be perfect, but it’s about getting him to the best state he can be in over the next 10 days. It was about getting him back here to Canberra, getting him with his physio Will Maher … now it’s going to be about increasing his load and going from there.”
Horsfall said Kyrgios could yet feature at the Kooyong Classic, which runs from Tuesday to Thursday.
Tournament organisers approached the local hope about playing at the lead-up event – which will also feature world No.1 Carlos Alcaraz, threetime grand slam winner Andy
Murray and Australian Alex de Minaur – an idea that Horsfall said remained an option for some match play in preparation for the Australian Open.
A hit against Wimbledon final foe Novak Djokovic has also been floated.
Kyrgios, who is currently ranked 22 in the world, also withdrew from the United Cup last week.
“Obviously we’re really sorry to everyone that’s involved, but Nick is the priority and we have to put getting him right first,” Horsfall said.
Australian tennis great Todd Woodbridge noted the difference between this hampered preparation and the one that led him to the final at Wimbledon last year, but said Kyrgios’s focus should be on bring primed both physically and mentally.
“I hope he is fresh and ready, because there’s going to be a lot of attention on him when he gets to Melbourne in just over a week’s time,” he said on the Today Show. “This isn’t exactly what I think he would have been after (as a lead-in). When he got through to Wimbledon (final), he had a couple of semi-finals on the road to getting there … this is a different approach.
“But Nick does it differently, and I hope for the sake of him – who has a proper chance of going deep into the tournament – that the ankle’s good. More importantly, though, that the head is clear. Once that is in good order, that’s when he can play his best tennis. It’s not so much about the physical (as) the mental.”