Krygios Honored By Tennis Australia
Nick Kyrgios was awarded Australia’s top tennis honor, the prestigious Newcombe Medal, at a gala celebration at Crown Palladium in Melbourne.
In receiving the award the Canberra tennis ace was formally recognized as Australia’s most outstanding tennis player in 2014. He was presented the award by Australian tennis legend John Newcombe, in whose honor the medal is named.
Kyrgios has enjoyed a breakthrough year on the world tennis circuit. In July he ousted then-world No.1 Rafael Nadal (ESP) from the fourth round at Wimbledon to advance to the quarterfinals of a major for the first time, drawing widespread acclaim from some of the sport’s biggest names including Aussie legend Rod Laver, US champion John McEnroe and current world No.6 Andy Murray (GBR).
The 19-year-old backed up his Wimbledon campaign with a third round appearance at the US Open, showing he has what it takes to make it on the Grand Slam stage.
Starting the year at world No.183 Kyrgios collected ATP Challenger titles in Nottingham, Savannah and Sarasota en route to a career-high ranking of No.51 in September. That same month he joined the Australian Davis Cup team in its 5-0 win over Uzbekistan, helping the side to retain its place in the elite World Group.
Kyrgios, currently ranked No.52, was elated to take out his first Newcombe Medal and was already looking ahead to a big future in the sport.
“I honestly didn’t think I was going to win this award tonight,” he said.
Newcombe said Kyrgios was a deserving recipient of the award.
“It was a tough decision to make with four very competent players, they were four great choices and that’s good for Australian tennis,” he said.
Kyrgios joins three-time winner Sam Stosur (Qld) and 2013 recipient Lleyton Hewitt (SA) on the Newcombe Medal honor roll. The two former winners, as well as the resurgent Casey Dellacqua (WA), were also in the running for the 2014 award.
The Newcombe Medal is the premier award presented on a night that recognizes players, coaches, clubs, communities, volunteers and officials for their service to the sport. The awards ceremony has been held annually since 2010.
Topics: 10sballs.com, Melbourne, Newcombe Medal, Nick Kyrgios, Tennis News
- @NickKyrgios IS HONORED WITH THE JOHN #NEWCOMBEMEDAL, ALL THE LEGENDS AND FUTURE CHAMPS WERE PRESENT IN #MELBOURNE- http://t.co/0YQ56T4zdj