Nick Kyrgios confirms tour return for grass-court season as restrictions ease

Life is set to become easier for elite players as restrictions ease and more competitors are vaccinated.

Nick Kyrgios has confirmed he will return in a grass-court tournament in Stuttgart leading into Wimbledon.

When Nick Kyrgios returns to the tour in Germany next month, he is likely to find travelling life easier than what his peers have dealt with over the past ten months.

The Australian has confirmed he will return in a grass-court tournament in Stuttgart leading into Wimbledon at a time when the tours are starting to ease the restrictions currently on players.

In a social media post on the Mercedes Cup’s account, the 26-year-old said he will play both singles and doubles in the tournament.

“I’m super excited to be coming back to Stuttgart. (It is) one of my favourite ever grass-court events,” he said.

“Obviously I have not played much tennis but I am super excited to be going back there.”

A rankings freeze due to the pandemic has allowed Kyrgios to remain in the top 100 despite playing only two tournaments in Australia since an event in Mexico in February, 2020.

The 56th ranked Kyrgios reached the third round of an Australian Open lead-in event in Melbourne in February before falling to Borna Coric.

He served another reminder of his talent by pushing US Open champion Dominic Thiem to five sets in a thrilling third round encounter in the Australian Open.

By the time he arrives in Europe for a brief grass-court season, the strict bubble life that players have endured since the tour resumed last August will have eased to a degree.

Roland Garros tournament director Guy Forget said competitors will be allowed an hour outside their social-distancing bubble to enjoy fresh air during the French Open.

French Open competitors will be allowed to have two people with them through the event.

“Our goal is not to put them in a necklace and attach them to their hotel or to (the) Roland Garros stadium,” he said this week.

On the regular tour, the use of rapid antigen testing every couple of days will allow greater freedom at a time where more and more players are receiving their COVID-19 vaccinations.

In some regards, the ATP Tour policy has similarities to that used by football codes in Australia last year.

Ashleigh Barty serves at the Foro Italico during this week’s Italian Open. Picture: AFP.

Players can collect takeaway food from restaurants but they are allowed to dine in as well, though that is not recommended.

They will be able to stay in hotels of their choosing, share accommodation with non-accredited guests, use public transport and visit hairdressers.

But concerts or other activities such as attending bars and nightclubs remain banned.

The Australians currently touring said there are challenges associated with it, with Ash Barty noting it was natural for players to “go through some flat spots”.

She and coach Craig Tyzzer have been on the road together since mid-March and will spent most of the year abroad given the quarantine requirements on returning to Australia.

“Tyzz and I, we are going to be in each other’s pockets for quite a while this year, so it is important to keep our relationship normal, but to also have space away from each other as well,” she told The Weekend Australian.

“We are fine. We have a great relationship off the court and we have a brilliant relationship on the court. I think for us, it is just about enjoying each other’s company.”

Thanasi Kokkinakis has noticed significant changes in his two months abroad since he was last able to travel with any regularity, noting it is “really hotel to court stuff”.

He is thankful mates such as Alex Bolt have been competing in the same Challenger events, with the few Aussies at that level providing support during matches as well as off the court.

“It is difficult. It really is. It is definitely not what I am used to,” he said.

“Normally, if you have a big match, you don’t want to go out and walk around too much, because you will just get tired, but even in the off days when you are training for one to two hours a day, when you don’t want to go too overboard, you are looking after your body a little bit, getting some room service at the hotel and you are seeing the same faces every single week.”

While Tyzzer will stay with Barty for the entirety of the year, Kokkinakis’ coach Todd Langham will return to Australia after Wimbledon given he has a young family.

Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt, whose International Tennis Hall of Fame induction will now be delayed until 2022 due to travel difficulties, raised concerns about the impact of bubbles earlier this year.

He urged the Australian members with bases overseas like Alex de Minaur and Alexei Popyrin to choose a conservative schedule and try to get breaks at home with family where possible.

Frenchman Benoit Paire is an example of a player who struggled to deal with the discipline required to perform in the bubble and has scarcely won a match this year.

Even Thiem, the US Open champion, needed time away to recuperate mentally.

Then there is Alexandra Osborne, a 26-year-old who played an ITF tournament in Jerusalem this week at a time amid escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

She is staying opposite the US Embassy and was stunned by a nearby explosion that sent staffers scurrying for shelter.

When warming up for a match, she was advised by the tournament director that they would need to evacuate to an on-site bomb shelter if the warning sirens went off.

“The last 48 hours have been unprecedented and not what I expected at all,” she told The First Serve.

“It is a quite surreal experience. Falling asleep … to the sound of missiles was not part of the plan. It is quite a serious, rare occurrence.”