Is Nick Kyrgios going to snub Ash Barty in Tokyo Olympics backflip?

Just days after being named in Australia’s Olympic team, there’s confusion about whether the tennis star will in fact go to Tokyo at all.

Questions are being asked whether Nick Kyrgios will go to Tokyo just days after being named as part of Australia’s Olympic team.

World No. 1 Ash Barty confirmed she will compete at this month’s Games, headlining an 11-strong tennis team that includes firebrand Kyrgios.

The opening ceremony is scheduled for July 23 but Kyrgios has been announced to play in the Atlanta Open, which starts on July 24. It would be impossible to play both tournaments.

“Nick Kyrgios returning to Atlanta!” the Atlanta Open’s official Twitter account posted.

When questioned by fans on social media about the clash, the Atlanta Open responded by saying: “He is not playing in Tokyo.”

Kyrgios won his first round match at Wimbledon on Thursday, beating Frenchman Ugo Humbert in five sets, but was not asked about his Olympic selection in the post-match press conference.

Barty’s announcement comes just a day after four-time gold medallist Serena Williams revealed she would be skipping the Games, which will also be without Spanish great Rafael Nadal.

Barty is thrilled to be wearing green and gold in Tokyo, saying she intends to compete in both singles and doubles at the Games.

“I’m proud,” she said after winning her first round match sat Wimbledon on Tuesday. “I’m bloody proud to be able to be a part of an Australian Olympic team.

“It was always a dream of mine. To be able to be officially named is awesome.”

Barty is the first Indigenous Australian to be selected for tennis — the sport was not on the Olympic program during the heyday of her great mentor and role model Evonne Goolagong Cawley.

“Yeah, it is (a source of pride to be the first Indigenous Australian to be on the tennis team),” she said.

“I know that we’ve got a really good group, big group, of Australian Indigenous athletes in our (overall) team.

“I know for me it’s a first for tennis, but there have certainly been a lot of Olympic athletes that have paved the way for me in an Indigenous sense, kind of showing me there is a pathway, that it is possible.”

Will Kyrgios go to Tokyo?

Barty can’t wait to play at the Olympics.

The Australia team comprises six men and five women, including former US Open champion Sam Stosur who will be going to her fifth Olympic Games at the age of 37.

“It’s super special being able to represent your country in one Olympics let alone five,” said Stosur, who also competed at Athens 2004, Beijing 2008, London 2012 and Rio 2016.

World No. 15 Alex de Minaur is the top-ranked Australian man, with the volatile Kyrgios likely to be one of the highest profile male players in the draw — if he ends up going, that is — despite his modest ranking of 60.

If Kyrgios touches down in Japan instead of Atlanta, it will represent his Olympic debut.

Stosur and Barty are joined by Ajla Tomljanovic in the women’s singles, with Barty teaming up with Storm Sanders in the women’s doubles and Stosur with Ellen Perez.

John Millman and James Duckworth join the men’s team. Millman will partner Luke Saville and John Peers will play with De Minaur in the men’s doubles.

With AFP