Citi Open Chairman, Mark Ein, shared an anecdote about Nick Kyrgios winning the title in 2019 after an elaborate chaos surrounding rackets. Kyrgios joined the likes of Gael Monfils in the men’s doubles but lost in the Round of 16.
Nick Kyrgios, known as one of the most polarising players with an unapologetic personality, had a mixed season in 2019. He won his fifth title at the Mexican Open but faced a couple of setbacks in the tournaments that year, including a suspension. However, his sixth title win at the Citi Open was one for the books.
Chairman of the Washington Open, Mark Ein, shared Kyrgios’ racket mishap ahead of the finals. In an episode of the Nothing Major Show, when asked about the ‘weirdest’ player request he ever received, he revealed how Kyrgios’ urgency prompted him to reach out to a FedEx executive to help deliver a bag of rackets to the Australian.
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"In 19, when we took over, Nick was in the finals, I don't know how this happened, but he got down to two rackets before the finals, and he had FedExed a whole set of new rackets to DC, but they were hung up in the FedEx warehouse out at Dallas airport. And he was begging us to open it. And no matter how many times you call customer service at FedEx, they're not opening the warehouse. So I actually called my friend who's one of the top executives at FedEx, and they went out and opened the warehouse and got Nick's rackets, and we got him strung, and he ended up beating Deniil in that final." (26:55 onwards)
Nick Kyrgios advanced to the US Open third round but lost to Andrey Rublev in consecutive sets.
Nick Kyrgios opened up about counting the days for his tennis career to end
Nick Kyrgios, the winner of seven ATP Tour-level singles titles, has forged a successful career and even earned a major doubles title at the 2022 Australian Open. Having struggled with form for persistent injuries since 2023, the 30-year-old wondered whether he stands a chance to compete against World No. 1 Jannik Sinner, hinting at his probable retirement soon.
"I don't think there's much tennis left. Yeah! my body can't take too much of it. I'll just play UTS for the rest of my life... Play this year, then I'm gonna see what I do next year. But I can't play for much longer, I think. My body's like, it's hard, it's like the training and it's easy to play the match but the everyday training, the travel, that's I think the toughest."
He added:
"Right now, I can't train for two months, when you start training and you get injured, that's when it's like it's not fun as much anymore. There so many rallies now. Like even the big guys have to rally. And what chance do I have rallying against Sinner (Jannik)? Zero. Or maybe like 10%... The courts are slow now."
Nick Kyrgios is headed to the US Open main draw with the help of a protected ranking. He hasn't competed at the New York Grand Slam since 2022.
