Nick Kyrgios rejects chance to represent Australia in Davis Cup amid family issues
Nick Kyrgios's mum says it's been a 'tough year' for star
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Nick Kyrgios has once again rejected the opportunity to represent Australia in the Davis Cup as he will prioritise returning to his homeland to be with his sick parents. The 27-year-old’s mother is currently in hospital awaiting a kidney transplant while his father has also fallen ill.
The world No 28 seed has been in the form of his life over recent months, following up his first ever Grand Slam final appearance at Wimbledon with unprecedented success in both the singles and doubles events at the Citi Open. The Aussie would have been a welcome addition to his nation’s Davis Cup team for their clash with Germany in Hamburg next month. However, team captain Lleyton Hewitt has confirmed Kyrgios will once again skip the event he hasn’t competed in since 2019.
The Wimbledon runner-up has openly acknowledged the challenges being away from his unwell parents have presented in recent times. Following his success over compatriot Alex de Minaur at the Canadian Open last week, Kyrgios admitted: “It’s hard because even travelling now, my mum is in hospital at the moment, my dad hasn’t been very well, my brother just had a baby and I don’t get to be there with my family when normal people would like to be with them.”
The comments came just days after the Aussie penned an emotional tribute to his mother on a TV camera following his stunning comeback triumph over world No 1 Daniil Medvedev, which read: ‘Be strong Ma’. Elaborating on the gesture, Kyrgios revealed: “It’s hard being from Australia because we can’t travel back and forth.
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“There’s a lot of things people don’t see. They only see me winning, losing, throwing a racquet, doing those things. They don’t really understand the challenges that I face or what people on tour face, what’s going on in their personal lives.”
In Kyrgios’ absence, Hewitt announced top-ranked Australian and world No 20 de Minaur would lead the team next month. Hewitt said: “It would have been great to have Nick in the team but unfortunately he was unavailable for this tie.
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“We fought through a really tough qualifying match back in March against Hungary which has now given us this opportunity to build on and the boys understand what’s at stake. I look forward to Alex leading the team in Hamburg.”
De Minaur will be joined in Germany by Thanasi Kokkinakis, who partnered Kyrgios to Grand Slam doubles success at the Australian Open earlier in the year, along with Wimbledon men’s doubles champions Matt Ebden and Max Purcell. Alexei Popyrin and Jason Kubler have also been included in Australia’s six-man travelling party.
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