Nick Kyrgios' sinister claim after Alex de Minaur's historic win over Novak Djokovic

Nick Kyrgios has floated the bombshell theory that Novak Djokovic's wrist injury has been caused by the balls being used on the ATP and WTA tours. A number of players have expressed their displeasure in recent months over a lack of consistency in regards to the balls being used at tournaments.

The balls are not standardised across the tours, and change depending on what tournament is taking place. Players have complained that the different balls have been causing injuries due to the time it takes to get used to varying conditions.

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Djokovic struggled with a wrist issue in his 6-4 6-4 loss to Alex de Minaur at the United Cup on Wednesday night after suffering the injury at training on Tuesday. He called for the trainer in his matches against Jiri Lehecka and de Minaur in Perth, but reckons it won't affect him at the Australian Open.

Taking to social media on Wednesday night, Aussie star Kyrgios suggested the balls were to blame for Djokovic's ailment. “Change of balls every week finally got to Novak's wrist,” Kyrgios wrote. “The ATP really need to do something about this problem. Players suffer all the time.

"Ok for the noobs that think I’m taking credit away from Alex are just plain dumb. Demon is a hell of a player and deserves every success that comes his way.

“Also, for the people who think balls aren’t a big enough factor to result in an athlete being hurt are potatoes. The load through a players elbow, wrist over this vigorous season is enormous.”

Kyrgios' comments didn't sit well with some fans, who felt he was taking the shine off de Minaur's win. The World No.12 joined Kyrgios and Lleyton Hewitt as the only Aussies to beat Djokovic during the 24-time grand slam champ's illustrious career.

“How about you congratulate Alex de Minaur on his win. You got no respect," one person wrote. “Congratulate Alex for the win. That’s the right thing to do. Cut the garbage.”

Novak Djokovic discusses wrist injury after Alex de Minaur loss

Discussing the wrist injury in his post-match press conference, Djokovic said he was confident it wouldn't affect him at the Australian Open. "I have enough time to get myself in the right shape for the Australian Open, and that's what matters the most at this point," he said.

"I think I'll be okay, to be honest. I knew that I probably wasn't going to be at my 100 per cent physically, emotionally, mentally, game-wise in the opening week of a season.

"Neither did I expect that. Neither did I want that, to be honest. It's all a part of the build-up for the Australian Open. That's where I want to perform at my best. So again, it's never nice to lose a match, of course, but it's not really going to stay with me much."

The Serbian star has been in this situation before. He suffered a hamstring tear before winning a 10th Australian Open title last year, and won the 2021 tournament despite a tear in his abdominal muscle.

"The process is not strange to me. It's not unusual," Djokovic said. "I've been in this kind of situation so many times and I know what I need to do along with my team to get myself ready.

"In two of the last three years I've been injured just before Australian Open, and managed to win both. I hope that I will not be injured this time around. That's what we're going to work on, to get my body in the right shape, optimal state, so that I can perform at the high level throughout, hopefully, the entire Australian Open."

with AAP

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