No US Open doubles for Nick

NICK Kyrgios has ditched doubles to conserve fuel for what he hopes will be a fortnight-long US Open singles campaign.

Kyrgios played doubles in lead-up events in Washington and Toronto and has featured in the teams’ event in three of the past four years in New York. But Australia’s injuryplagued star has learnt his lesson after cursing himself for dragging his fragile frame through near-40 degree heat on the eve of his Australian Open third-round win over JoWilfried Tsonga earlier this year.

“I’m just trying to look after my body,” Kyrgios said ahead of his first- round singles clash with Radu Albot, Tuesday’s feature night match at Louis Armstrong Stadium.

A two-time former US Open junior doubles champion, Kyrgios’s decision to forego a guaranteed split of $22,500 in prize money – and potentially a $475,000 pay day – could prove a wise one.

The 23-year-old will need to win two best-of-five-set matches in three days to set up a likely third-round showdown with Roger Federer and is expecting a tough enough opener against Albot without adding to his workload. Despite his lowly ranking of No.95 in the world, the Moldovan reached the last 32 at Flushing Meadows last year and repeated the effort at Wimbledon two months ago with a shock first-round win over 2017 US Open semi-finalist Pablo Carreno Busta.

“He’s a tough competitor to play at a grand slam because you know that his level is not going to drop at all throughout the match,” Kyrgios said.

“He’s not going to blow you off the court but he’s going to compete for every point. I can’t waste too much energy at times, but I need to be aggressive and take my chances. It’s going to be a tough match, for sure.”