Nick Kyrgios has taken another swipe at critics after his pre-Australian Open exhibition practice match with Novak Djokovic swiftly sold out.
The pair will play on Friday night at Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena for 75 minutes under match conditions, with umpires, ballkids and electronic line-calling.
The $20 tickets for the contest between last year’s Wimbledon finalists went on sale on Tuesday and reportedly sold out in just under an hour.
“Wow Nick Kyrgios is bad for the sport! Wow what a disgrace, a national embarrassment! How dare he sell out another stadium, the arrogance,” Kyrgios wrote on Twitter.
Kyrgios’ lead-up to the first grand slam of the year has been clouded by injury. He pulled out of the United Cup and Adelaide International 2 due to an ankle problem.
Proceeds from the practice match are going towards the Australian Tennis Foundation.
“Nick is focused on doing the best he can,” tournament director Craig Tiley told reporters earlier this week.
“He wants to win grand slams, so he’s giving himself the best opportunity to prepare and Friday night will be a really good practice match for him, as it will be for Novak.
“That’s going to be a fun night to really launch the beginning of the year and he’ll be ready.”
Source: AAP
