Reuters
—
Nick Kyrgios’ late withdrawal from the inaugural version of the United Cup took his personal teammates unexpectedly on Wednesday as they have been left in the dead of night till minutes earlier than their pre-tournament information convention.
Kyrgios, who’s ranked twenty second on this planet and reached this yr’s Wimbledon closing, was set to guide Australia within the joint ATP and WTA occasion, which is being held in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth and presents rating factors and $15 million in prize-money.
Organisers stated the 27-year-old, who was attributable to face Britain’s Cameron Norrie in his first singles match on Thursday in Group D, withdrew attributable to damage.
“We actually simply came upon 10 minutes in the past. Clearly it’s information to all of us and we simply transfer ahead now,” co-captain Sam Stosur instructed reporters.
Kyrgios, who opted out of Australia’s Davis Cup workforce this yr, later posted a video on Instagram the place he was seen out within the sunshine at a harbor with the caption ‘Stunning day’.
Alex de Minaur, who will now transfer into the primary males’s place for Workforce Australia, needed to keep away from discussing Kyrgios and deal with the upcoming occasion.
“I believe it could be nice if we simply speak about this nice workforce,” he stated. “We’re all right here, we’re all joyful to be right here, we’re about to play an thrilling new occasion, one thing new for all of us – the United Cup.”
Australia will even play Rafa Nadal’s Spain in Group D.
The match, which runs from Dec. 29-Jan. 8, options 18 nations cut up into six teams of three, with groups enjoying two males’s and two girls’s singles matches and a blended doubles match.
