Alex de Minaur admitted he tried to coax Nick Kyrgios back to the Davis Cup before he opted for a Saudi Arabian exhibition event, while outlining his own ambition to emulate the Wimbledon finalist with a deep grand slam run next year.
On the eve of Kyrgios’ return to a teams-based event in the new mixed-gender United Cup, de Minaur has spoken about how representing his country is “bigger than anything” despite Kyrgios continuing his Davis Cup exile.
De Minaur and Kyrgios will spearhead the Australian charge, the first time they’ve teamed up since Kyrgios took to social media to say he was being paid “six figures” to play in Saudi Arabia.
Kyrgios didn’t make himself available for Lleyton Hewitt’s Davis Cup team, which lost the final to Canada. It came at the end of Kyrgios’ career-best year in which he also reached the final eight at the US Open and teamed up with Thanasi Kokkinakis to win the Australian Open doubles.
Asked about trying to convince Kyrgios to play Davis Cup, de Minaur told the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age: “We had that conversation. He wasn’t available to play. That’s kind of how it went.
“I’m comfortable playing for Australia, which is bigger than anything else. I’m looking forward to having all my teammates around and a big group of people supporting each other and having each other’s backs. It’s just going to be an exciting format. Team events bring out the best in people.”
Alex de Minaur and Nick Kyrgios will team up for Australia in the United Cup.Credit:AP
World No.24 de Minaur’s Davis Cup heroics took Australia to the brink of an unlikely win, but the Sydneysider also flagged his preference for the event to return to a home-and-away, five-set format in the future.
The United Cup will feature Australia drawn alongside the strong Great Britain team (December 29-30) and Rafael Nadal’s Spain (January 2-3) in Sydney.
Kyrgios, Australia’s top-ranked player, will take on Nadal in one of the two men’s singles matches after having been the beneficiary of a walkover from the all-time men’s grand slam record holder in the Wimbledon semi-finals.
All England Club and US Open quarter-finalist Ajla Tomljanović will be one of two women’s representatives for Australia with each tie to be decided by a mixed doubles rubber if necessary.
“It’s going to be a great battle for us,” de Minaur said. “We’ve got a tough group. It’s in Australia, but we cherish being the underdogs. It will give us a good chance to test ourselves and see how we’re going and see if our level is holding up.
“I think it’s going to be very interesting and intriguing to see how this all plays out. Obviously, this is a new event. We’re not sure really what to expect and the whole team dynamic.
“One thing is for sure, Australia is always a tight-knit group. We had an incredible year when it comes to team events with the finals of the Billie Jean King Cup and Davis Cup. We’re both in strong form. We’ll see how it goes. Hopefully, if we do well we’ll push for many, many more events like this.”
The United Cup will bookend a memorable year for Australian tennis in which the now-retired Ash Barty broke the country’s drought at the Australian Open with her first women’s singles title at Melbourne Park, and Australia’s teams exceeded expectations in the Billie Jean King Cup and Davis Cup.
De Minaur hopes he can add his name to the list of Australians going deep into the second week of a slam having reached the round of 16 at both the Australian Open and Wimbledon this year.
“That’s where I want to be,” de Minaur said. “To be honest, I’m not that type of person who is content with making third rounds or fourth rounds. I want to be pushing the end of these tournaments. That’s always going to be the goal.
“I do think I’m very close and I do feel like a lot of it is self belief. I’ve put myself in a couple of positions this year at Aussie making the fourth round and then at Wimby, basically having match points to make the quarters.
“I reckon I’m there and hopefully, I can put some great tennis together come AO week and really push the deep end of that tournament because that’s where I feel like I belong.”
Taylor Fritz will headline the United States team against Alexander Zverev’s Germany and Petra Kvitova’s Czech Republic in the other Sydney group of the United Cup.
Poland’s world No.1 Iga Swiatek will take centre stage in pool play in Brisbane, while Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas and Maria Sakkari will be expected to help their country qualify from their Perth group.
The United Cup will offer both ATP and WTA rankings points in the lead-up to the Australian Open.
Watch Australia in the United Cup from December 29 live and free on Channel 9 and 9Now. More info here.
