Australian Olympic Boss Hopeful Nick Kyrgios Will Go To Tokyo - UBITENNIS
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Australian Olympic Boss Hopeful Nick Kyrgios Will Go To Tokyo

It it is looking increasingly likely that the former top 20 star will skip the games but officials are not giving up hope just yet.

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Nick Kyrgios (AUS) falls over in pain during his match against Ugo Humbert (FRA) on No.1 Court in the first round of the Gentlemen's Singles at The Championships 2021. Held at The All England Lawn Tennis Club, Wimbledon. Day 3 Wednesday 30/06/2021. Credit: AELTC/Jon Super

The chef de Mission of the Australian Olympic Open team says he respects whatever decision Nick Kyrgios makes regarding his participation at the upcoming Games in Tokyo.

 

Kyrgios was named in the 11-player team just last week along with the likes of Ash Barty. However, since then the world No.60 has cast some doubt over his attendance due to COVID-19 restrictions which will be implemented. Some of the rules include requiring athletes to eat alone, daily testing and refraining from talking in confined spaces such as elevators. The measures have raised concern among some athletes that they will not be able to get the proper Olympic experience whilst in Tokyo.

Recently speaking about the event during Wimbledon, Kyrgios has admitted that he is one of those athletes who has reservations. The Australian says he has always wanted to play in the Olympics but is weighing up his options and could play in another tournament.

“If I’m to play the Olympics, I want to do it the right way,” he said.
“I want to do it with full crowds, with my guests there. I want to do it when I’m able to watch other athletes do their thing. That’s the Olympics for me. The Olympics, the way it is going to go, (are) not the Olympics.”

Chef de mission Ian Chesterman says the current circumstances are far from ideal but he is hopeful that the tennis star may compete in the event. Australia has won five Olympic medals in tennis but only one of those occurred in single competition when Alicia Molik claimed a bronze medal back in 2004.

“It has been a very difficult lead-up for all athletes,” Chesterman said when asked about Kyrgios. “We’ve had a number of athletes … decide they won’t go for a whole lot of different reasons [given the delay].
“We would still love to see Nick over at these Games. He knows he is welcome at these Games and I still think it would be a fantastic outcome for tennis and for our team if he was there.
“But I understand and respect his decision, whichever way he goes, because the [Tokyo] Games are different. People have to believe they can perform under these circumstances.”

In reality it is looking more likely that Kyrgios will not be participating in the Games given his latest injury setback. At Wimbledon he was forced to retire from his third round match against Felix Auger-Aliassime due to an abdominal injury. Following the retirement he said his body ‘wasn’t where it needed to be to continue to play at this level.’

Another issue which may deter Kyrgios from playing in the Olympics could be that it coincides with the start of the North American hardcourt swing with valuable ranking points at stake. Due to adjustments being made to the ranking system because of the pandemic players have a larger period of results which they can use to determine their place. Kyrgios’ place in the top 100 has been aided by his triumph at the 2019 Washington Open and he could fall down the rankings if he misses that event this year.

The Olympic tennis tournament will start on July 24th.

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Hamad Medjedovic moves to 2-0 in Red Group at the Next Gen Finals in Jeddah

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Hamad Medjedovic edged past Luca Van Assche 4-2 2-4 4-3 (9-7) 4-1 to move to 2-0 In Red Group at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah one day after winning a marathon five-set match against Alex Michelsen. 

 

Medjedovic broke serve in the third game of the opening set to take a 2-1 lead. He held serve and saved two break points in the sixth game to close out the first set 4-2. 

Van Assche saved three break points at 2-2 before breaking serve in the sixth game  with a running forehand pass to seal the second set 4-2. 

Medjedovic earned a break point in the first game of the third set, when Van Assche made a double fault. Van Assche saved them to hold on his serve. Both players held on serve en route to a tie-break. Van Assche raced out to a 5-1 lead. Medjedovic won three consecutive points to claw his way back to 4-5. Van Assche earned three set points at 6-4, 6-5 and 7-6, but Medjedovic won the final three points to win the tie-break 9-7. 

Medjedovic left the court for nine minutes for a bathroom break. 

Medjedovic broke serve in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead. When he was serving out the match, he saved three break points as he closed out the win with two unreturned serves. 

“For sure the tie-break changed a lot of things in this match. He had three set points. I stayed focused on the important points. I was consistent, hitting the ball hard, and I am glad that I won the tie-break”, said Medjedovic. 

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Abdullah Shelbayh upsets Alex Michelsen to win his first win at the Next Gen Finals in Jeddah

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Jordan’s wild card Abdullah Shelbayh beat world number 97 Alex Michelsen 4-2 1-4 4-0 4-0 to clinch his fourth top 100 win. Shelbayh moves to 1-1 in Red Group. 

 

Shelbayh hit 26 winners, including seven aces. The Asian player will face Serbia’s Hamad Medjedovic in his third round robin match. 

Shelbayh earned the first break in the third game of the opening set to take a 2-1 lead. The wild card held his next two service games at 30 to close out the first set 4-2. 

Michelsen, who reached the ATP 250 final in Newport last summer, broke in the second game of the second set to take a 2-0 lead, when Shelbayh made a backhand error. 

Michelsen earned a break point in the first game of the third set, but Shelbayh saved it with an ace. The Jordanan player held serve before breaking serve to close out the third set 4-0. Shelbayh won four consecutive games with two breaks of serve to win the fourth set 4-0. 

“Having the opportunity to play here now to finish here, I could not ask for a better end to the year. I appreciate all the support throughout the week that I have been receiving already, throughout the year and from the Arab world especially. It makes me happy to represent my country. There is some pressure but you feel like it’s good pressure to have on you shoulders when you are representing your country and the region you come from”,said Shelbayh. 

Shelbayh improved his ATP ranking from world 470 to 185. His tennis idol is Rafael Nadal. Shelbayh has trained at the Rafa Nadal for more than five years. Toni Nadal flew to Jordan when Shelbayh was 13 years old to recruit him to train at the Rafa Nadal Academy. He became the first Jordanan player to win a main-draw ATP Tour match last April against Elias Ymer in Banja Luka. 

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Arthur Fils eases past Flavio Cobolli to move to 2-0 at the Next Gen Finals in Jeddah

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World number 36 Arthur Fils eased past Flavio Cobolli 4-1 4-2 4-2 in 59 minutes to move to 2-0 in Green Group at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah. Fils won 72% of his first service points and fired five aces. 

 

Fils saved a break point in the first game on the deciding point. The Frenchman broke serve in the second game and rallied from 0-30 down to hold serve in the third game. 

Fils served out the first set 4-1 with a hold at love. 

Cobolli made a double fault at 30-30 in the first game of the second set, but Fils broke serve when Cobolli hit his backhand into the net. 

Cobolli saved a break point with an ace on the deciding point in the third game. Fils won his next two service games with ease to seal the second set 4-2. The Frenchman dropped two points on serve in the second set.

Fils earned an early break in the first game of the third set. Cobolli broke straight back to draw level to 1-1. Fils broke for the second time at love in the third game with a backhand down the line return winner and sealed the win on his second match point. 

Fils, who beat Luca Nardi in five sets in his opening match, will face Dominic Stricker in his third round-robin match. 

“I played very nice today. I served very good, and I was moving well on the court, so I am very happy with it. Tomorrow I have a good match against a great opponent. He already beat me once this year, so let’s what I can do”, said Arthur Fils. 

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