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A day before Nick Kyrgios was scheduled to play his first match at the United Cup, he withdrew from the tournament citing a recent injury sustained in Dubai.
The inaugural edition of the mixed-team event, which has replaced the ATP Cup, is scheduled to be held from December 29 to January 8 in the Australian cities of Sydney, Brisbane and Perth. Teams from 18 countries have been divided into six groups.
The Australian team has the services of Alex de Minaur, Jason Kubler, Sam Stosur, Ajla Tomljanovic, John Peers, Zoe Hives, and Maddison Inglis. Former World No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt and Stosur are the co-captains for the hosts. The entire team attended a pre-tournament press conference earlier on Wednesday, where Stosur revealed that the team found out about Kyrgios' decision just minutes before coming in.
“We literally just found out 10 minutes ago,” Stosur said.
The official Twitter account of the tournament informed fans about the 2022 Wimbledon finalist's decision, stating that de Minaur and Kubler moved to the No. 1 and No. 2 men's positions, respectively, in the Australian team.
"Nick Kyrgios has withdrawn from the United Cup due to injury. Alex de Minaur will move into the No.1 men’s position for Team Australia, and subsequently Jason Kubler moves into the No.2 spot," the tweet read.
Australia were drafted into Group D along with Great Britain and Spain. World No. 22 Kyrgios was scheduled to face Great Britain's Cameron Norrie on Thursday in Sydney. de Minaur will replace him for the fixture. Kyrgios was also set to take on 22-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal on January 2. Once again, 24th-ranked de Minaur will take his place.
If Kyrgios recovers from his injury, he will be seen in action at the 2023 Australian Open next.
"95% stress, 5% excitement" - Nick Kyrgios ahead of Australian Open
Nick Kyrgios enjoyed arguably the best season of his career this year as he reached his maiden Grand Slam final, where he lost to Novak Djokovic. The Aussie finished with a win-loss record of 37-10.
Speaking to Eurosport at the recently-concluded World Tennis League, Kyrgios stated that although he had fun this year, he was stressed and exhausted.
“I’m exhausted honestly. Just stressful. The more you win and the more success you have, the more demands you have off the court. People expect more from you. It’s been a stressful year that’s for sure. I probably handled things a lot better. A lot of stress, but it’s been fun as well," he said.
“I’m not even looking forward to before the Australian Open. I’m just looking to after it, I kind of want it to be over. Because I know how stressful it is for me personally to be in the spotlight. There is a little bit of excitement but it’s probably 95% stress, 5% excitement to be honest," he said.
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