Australian tennis faced a difficult period at the start of the 2023 season at the inaugural United Cup which ended in their elimination already in the group stage.
Shortly before the event, their highest-ranked player, Nick Kyrgios, withdrew from the tournament. Soon, an interview appeared in which the team captain Lleyton Hewitt slammed him for 'lack of communication' surrounding his withdrawal. Now, Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley defended the decision of Kyrgios as he knows he was delaying it because of good reasons.
“We had conversations with Nick," Australian Open tournament director and Tennis Australia CEO, Craig Tiley said. "He makes a precautionary decision to protect his ankle in his preparation for the Australian Open. He gave himself, in our opinion, the best possible chance by maximizing the time until he was cleared to withdraw from the event."
Explaining further that it's a common practice among athletes, who want to compete at the event despite not always being 100% fit, he said:
"Most athletes – this is Nick's case – will give themselves the best possible chance to compete and make a decision as late as possible. It's more difficult when you're in the United Cup, which is a team competition, so it impacts others, but withdrawals are quite common...when players are preparing for a major event and they have several preliminary events."
"We have Adelaide starting and Hobart coming in," he said. "There will probably be other athletes in the same situation as Nick. We're confident he'll be fine, and we can't wait to see him play. He loves to play the Australian Open, we've seen the energy he brings to the court and I think the big challenge will be deciding which court to put him on."
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