Greek tennis star Stefanos Tsitsipas has taken a delicate dig at arch-rival Nick Kyrgios, saying he hopes the Australian “enjoys his holidays” after he withdrew from the United Cup on the 11th hour.
World No.22 Kyrgios was set to headline the Thursday night session in Sydney of the inaugural match with a bumper match-up in opposition to Nice Britain’s Cameron Norrie, however pulled out 24 hours earlier than the match.
The Wimbledon finalist is believed to have injured his ankle in an exhibition match in Dubai final week and has withdrawn from the mixed-team occasion to make sure he’s absolutely match for the Australian Open.
Tsitsipas, who had a heated match-up with Kyrgios earlier this 12 months at Wimbledon, had a cheeky dig on the Australian when fronting the media on Wednesday.
“I do not see it as a shock. I hope he enjoys his holidays,” Tsitsipas stated.
The Australian crew solely came upon about Kyrgios’ withdrawal minutes earlier than they confronted the media, with captain Samantha Stosur saying she hadn’t spoken to him about his determination.
“I am not going to talk for Nick’s summer time, we have to depart that for him,” Stosur stated.
Kyrgios and Tsitsipas teamed up earlier this month in Saudi Arabia on the Diriyah Tennis Cup, dropping to Hubert Hurkacz and Dominic Stricker in straight units regardless of their rivalry.
Tsitsipas indicated he didn’t benefit from the expertise.
“It was powerful to pay attention for certain,” he stated.
“I do not know the place that vitality comes from. There’s simply a lot of it.
“You need to go about your factor, you need to focus in your half of the court docket, and there is simply noise coming from the opposite facet of it. It is distracting, it is not simple.
“For certain sooner or later, having to face that sooner or later once more, that’s one thing that must be at its greatest with a view to overcome that type of impediment that’s introduced on the opposite facet of the web.”
World No.four Tsitsipas would be the foremost occasion of the primary day in Perth when he faces Bulgarian and World No.28 Grigor Dimitrov within the morning session.
“I’ve to be prepared for every little thing. I am certain he has executed quite a bit, put in lots of work in the course of the pre-season,” he stated.
“He’s most likely the freshest he’ll ever be this season. I must method it with the precise mentality and get into the match from early on.”
