Canberra, Aug 11 (IANS) Australia’s strife-prone tennis star Nick Kyrgios has enlisted the help of former “bad boy” Lleyton Hewitt to mentor him in the lead up to the US Open.
Kyrgios, 20, has been without a full time coach since he split with Todd Larkham before Wimbledon in June, but has asked Hewitt to fill the void in the lead up to the year’s last Grand Slam, Xinhua reported on Tuesday.
Kyrgios’ mother, Nill, has said that her son will learn a great deal from Davis Cup teammate Hewitt, who is someone the young player admires greatly on and off the court.
“He will listen to Lleyton because he knows what he’s talking about, he’s been at the top and been world No.1,” Nill said on Tuesday.
“What Nick doesn’t like is when people who haven’t been in that situation give him advice, but he’ll listen to someone like Lleyton.”
Kyrgios lost to Kazakhstan’s Aleksandr Nedovyesov in Darwin in a David Cup tie, a little known player currently ranked 96 in the world. Following the result, Kyrgios did not compete in any other matches during the tie.
Tennis experts have lauded the decision as a big step in Kyrgios’ mental development with one Australian tennis writer labelling the decision as Kyrgios’ “smartest move yet”.
The US Open will be held from August 31 to September 13 at Flushing Meadows in New York.
