Frances Tiafoe and Jack Sock react to Nick Kyrgios being made captain

Nick Kyrgios has been unveilved as John McEnroe’s captain for his six-man team ahead of the Laver Cup this year. The world No 26 recently announced that he will join Frances Tiafoe, Taylor Fritz and Felix Auger-Aliassime in the McEnroe-led Team World at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, Canada.

The Aussie star has played for Team World in all four previous editions of the Laver Cup. However, he opted to skip the fifth edition of the event last year, which saw Team World win for the first time in what was Roger Federer’s emotional farewell to tennis.

The 27-year-old, who finished runner-up to Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon last summer, took to social media to announce his inclusion this year. Of those to share their excitement were American stars Tiafoe and Jack Sock.

Sharing his enthusiasm, Tiafoe wrote on Kyrgios’ Instagram post: “Man this hypes me up to another level.” Sock also took to the comments section and responded with an eyes emoji, which all but confirmed his participation in the September showpiece.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Nick Kyrgios (@k1ngkyrg1os)

Sock, who has been part of Team World on four out of the five previous occasions, is yet to decide whether or not he will feature this year. Sock has formed a bromance with Kyrgios away from tennis and his inclusion as captain should be enough to tempt the world No 91 to participate.

Also sharing Tiafoe and Sock’s enthusiasm was seven-time Grand Slam singles champion McEnroe, who boasted: “Nick is one of the most talented guys on tour.”

He added: “We saw the level of tennis he’s capable of last year at Wimbledon and we’re all looking forward to seeing him on the court again soon. He brings great energy and passion. I’m excited to have him back on the team in Vancouver.”

Kyrgios ended his 2022 season with an injury and has not played a professional match since October. Despite playing an exhibition match at the Australian Open with world No 1 Novak Djokovic, the Aussie was forced to pull out of his home Grand Slam. His withdrawal also meant he was unable to defend his Australian Open men’s doubles title alongside Thanasi Kokkinaki.

Speaking ahead of the event, the Aussie exclaimed: “I’m pumped to be a part of Team World! As I’ve said many times before, a kid from Canberra representing the world, it’s pretty special and I’m ready to go to battle.”

Meanwhile, Team Europe still has four spots left to fill. So far, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Andrey Rublev are the only two players to register themselves in Bjorn Borg’s team. Team Europe won the first four editions, while Team World triumphed for the first time in 2022.

Source: Read Full Article