Australian Open 2013 junior champion Nick Kyrgios and world No.17 Kei Nishikori of Japan will play at the Brisbane International 2014. 18-year-old Kyrgios from Canberra is the first wildcard to be announced for the 2014 tournament.
The Canberrian is excited that he may play Roger Federer in Brisbane this summer, and believes it would be a life changing experience.
“That is something that no one can take away from you … you’re going to keep that for the rest of your life playing Roger Federer, and you will get an amazing amount of confidence from it as well,” said Kyrgios.
“My short term goal is to definitely do my best at Brisbane … to do well will help set me up for the rest of the year,” he continued.
ADDITIONAL NEWS
Tennis Australia’s head of professional tennis, Todd Woodbridge tells Fairfax Media that Bernard Tomic has delayed an appointment of a new coach. Bernard’s father John’s 12-month tournament ban goes through mid-May. ”There’s nothing that I know that looks like changing before January,” Woodbridge said. ”I just think it’s been a hitch in getting the right person ”I know that John believes that he needs someone, but you can’t take John out of that equation either – he’s a very important strength to Bernard’s game. John’s tennis knowledge is good and Bernard needs to rely on that, and as I’ve said many times before, the person that comes in is going to have to work with John on the process that Bernard needs to go forward. It’s got to be a team. . . Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf’s are in new Wii commercial where Andre ‘Plays like Girl’ . . . Former top 5 player Robin Soderling, who has been off the tour for two years due to a virus, on why Swedish men’s tennis has no males in the top 400 after having multiple Grand Slam champions from the 1970s-1990s. “We have to play indoors for eight months of the year, and we simply don’t have enough courts,” Soderling told the New York Times. “It’s really tough to get a court, like for kids, especially in the bigger cities. Here in Stockholm it’s almost impossible to get a court if you don’t play really early in the morning or really late in the evening.” . . . A recreational player wrote to the London Times complaining that prior to a Ryan Air flight he was told he could not check a tennis racquet in due to “global regulations” and was also told by British Airways that he could not carry it on and had to pay 40 pounds to check it in. . . . Former top 5 player Kimiko Date-Krumm of Japan on Li Na becoming the first Asian woman to reach the world No.3 ranking. “For Asian players it’s really good. When I was young there weren’t so many Asian players in the world, and people never thought we could be No.1 or get a Grand Slam title – she already has a Grand Slam title, and many years she’s been in the Top 10 and Top 5. And now she’s No.3. It’s a big success and I really want to congratulate her!”
We Hear —
–That Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, David Ferrer, Richard Gasquet, Tomas Berdych and Gael Monfils are all confirmed to play the year opening Qatar Exxon Mobil Open 2014 in Doha, beginning December 30.
Topics: 10sballs, Andre Agassi, Andy Murray, Atp, Australian Open, Bernard Tomic, David Ferrer, Gael Monfils, Kimiko Date-Krumm, Li Na, London, Nick Kyrgios, Rafael Nadal, Richard Gasquet, Sports, Steffi Graf, Tennis, Tennis News, Tomas Berdych, Wta