Nick Kyrgios reveals bizarre coaching announcement hoax
Nick Kyrgios has taken to Instagram to rubbish a recent announcement confirming James Cerretani would become his tennis coach.
The 23-year-old reportedly told News Corp “James is my coach now” from the Japan Open, but it all seems to have been nothing but a hoax.
Kyrgios posted on his Instagram account to set the record straight:
“Prime example of the media, give them a little ridiculous information and they completely go with it.”
News broke on Thursday that 37-year-old American James Cerretani had been locked in for a stint in Kyrgios’ box.
“You can quote me on that one. We have been working for a while now, especially the last couple of weeks,” Kyrgios told News Corp.
“We’ve been talking on the phone a lot, but starting in Tokyo it’s the first week we have been working together officially. It’s going well.”
The Courier Mail also reported the unlikely partnership would initially take in this month’s Asian swing.
But the most recent update from Kyrgios advises otherwise:
“All love tho James Cerretani – the bigger the story the bigger the check.”
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Kyrgios is scheduled to take part in next week’s Shanghai Masters before tournaments in Vienna and Paris bring an end to his 2018 season.
Cerretani was expected to be the latest in a long line of coaches and de facto mentors for the enigmatic Kyrgios.
Locals Todd Larkham, Josh Eagle and Simon Rea were some of his earliest coaches, while Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean was a high-profile addition last year.
Australian doubles specialist Matt Reid has also previously played a key role as a training partner and motivator.
Kyrgios defeated Yoshihito Nishioka 7-5 7-6 (7-3) in one hour and three minutes at the Japan Open.
He converted just two of nine break-point opportunities but proved clinical when it mattered most to set up a clash with Richard Gasquet on Thursday.
But prior to his round of 16 fixture with the Frenchman, Kyrgios posted on social to quash the Cerretani coaching announcement.
Teenager set to replace Kyrgios as nation’s top player
Alex de Minaur is in the box seat to jump Nick Kyrgios and become Australia’s No.1 player.
The teenager’s fighting qualities were again at the fore on Wednesday as he saved four match points to move through to the second round of the Japan Open.
Fast gaining a reputation as one of the toughest competitor’s on tour even before turning 20, de Minaur again had to do it the hard way to beat France’s Gilles Simon 6-7 (7-1) 7-6 (7-5) 6-2.
Simon served for the match and had his chances to close it out but de Minaur broke back and claimed the second set tiebreak before running away with the third set.
The victory set up a meeting with one of the form players of the tour, fellow young gun Stefanos Tsitsipas.
De Minaur saved four match points against Andrey Rublev in August on his way to the Citi Open final and recovered from a break in the decider of his Shenzen Open round of 16 match against Mackenzie McDonald last week.
Projected to rise to at least No.33 in the world next week from his current ranking of 38, de Minaur may well find himself the new Australian No.1 unless Nick Kyrgios can do something special in Tokyo.
A finalist from last year, Kyrgios has 300 points to defend and will need to go deep to ensure he doesn’t slide outside the world’s top 35.
He has been the nation’s top-ranked player since April 2016, and de Minaur could become the first teenager to hold the spot since Bernard Tomic in 2011.
with AAP.