By Alberto Amalfi | Tuesday, September 13, 2016
Nick Kyrgios hobbled out of New York with a hip injury. The Australian No. 1 is aiming to return to action on the grass of Sydney this weekend.
The 15th-ranked Kyrgios hit with Bernard Tomic hitting on the portable grass court in Ken Rosewall Arena in preparation for Australia's Davis Cup tie against Slovakia this weekend.
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The hip injury that prompted Kyrgios to pull the plug in his US Open third-round match while trailing world No. 63 Illya Marchenko prompted some speculation the enigmatic Aussie might miss this weekend's World Group qualifying tie.
Kyrgios, who sat out Australia's 3-1 loss to the United States on the grass of Kooyong last March, said he's committed to the Davis Cup cause.
"I wouldn't be here if I didn't want to play," Kyrgios said. "I feel ready. I'm playing probably the best tennis I have. I've hit twice since I've been here and been going for about an hour to an hour and a half so it's feeling good and I'm feeling confident with (the injury)."
After hitting with Tomic, Kyrgios was encouraged his hip can withstand the stress of a best-of-five set match.
A decision will be made on Kyrgios' status later in this practice week.
The fact that tie is on grass should create less shock on his body and also help the former Wimbledon quarterfinalist play quicker points.
"It kind of depends on how I'm going this week," Kyrgios said when asked if he'll play. "I'm trying to build. I'm hitting again after this trying to get some volume underneath and see how it pulls up. But at the moment there are no signs indicating that it's not going to pull up well so I'm pretty confident with it."
Tomic, who accounted for Australia's lone point in its opening-round loss to the USA, had ripped Kyrgios for missing that tie with illness. Kyrgios returned to play Indian Wells after skipping Davis Cup.
"Twice he’s done it. Two times he’s faked it,” Tomic told Australian captain Lleyton Hewitt in reference to Kyrgios not competing in the tie due to illness. “Two times Nick has faked an illness. While I’m here Nick’s sitting in Canberra. (Expletive) he’s sick.”
Tomic struck a conciliatory note after their first practice session.
"I'm happy Nick's feeling good and we're all here as a team," Tomic said. "And I'm happy it's on grass as well and at home it couldn't be better for me."