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NICK Kyrgios says he has hired American James Cerretani to travel with him as a coach through his Asian swing, which started on Wednesday with a first-round win in Tokyo.

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Kyrgios rode a good serving day, including 20 aces, to beat Japanese qualifier Yoshihito Nishioka, a winner of an ATP title in China last Sunday, 7-5, 7-6 (7-3).

The Australian No. 1 and world No. 27 has had short stints with several coaches on tour over the years, and is trying out Cerretani, 37, a current doubles player who has posted four ATP doubles titles in his career, reaching No. 45 in the doubles rankings in 2008.

Kyrgios and Cerretani also played doubles in Tokyo, losing in the second round of qualifying.

“James is my coach now — you can quote me on that one,’’ Kyrgios told The Courier-Mail.

“We have been working for a while now, especially the last couple of weeks.

“We’ve been talking on the phone a lot (in recent weeks), but starting in Tokyo it’s the first week we have been working together officially. It’s going well.’’


Nick Kyrgios smashed down 20 aces to beat Japanese qualifier Yoshihito Nishioka in Tokyo.
Australian No. 3 Alex de Minaur wore down Frenchman Gilles Simon in 3hr 5min for a 6-7 (1-6), 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 victory which added to his excellent history of deciding-set dogfights.


But West Australian Matt Ebden lost his way in a Tokyo first-round match to fall to Wimbledon runner-up Kevin Anderson 4-6, 7-6 (7-1), 6-2.

Kyrgios, the 2016 Tokyo champion, saved two set points to avoid being taken into a deciding set by Nishioka.


Nick Kyrgios, the 2016 Tokyo champion, saved two set points to avoid being taken into a deciding set by his Japanese first-round opponent.
“It was tough. He’s obviously riding a lot of confidence from last week. Playing in front of his home crowd, he was probably looking forward to it today,” Kyrgios said.

“I’ve had success here before but I think the conditions are a little bit different to the last time I played this tournament — it’s a little bit faster this year. It probably suits my game a little bit more.’’

Nick Kyrgios lost his temper with chair umpire Damien Dumusois during another ignominious Shanghai Masters exit on Monday.

The 23-year-old was on the end of a surprise defeat to American qualifier Bradley Klahn, with the world No 104 winning 4-6 6-4 6-3.

He appeared disillusioned towards the latter stages of the match, where Dumusois felt the Australian was ‘borderline’ tanking.

Kyrgios took the comment to heart and began a lengthy argument with the French umpire before hitting balls against the back hoarding and then leaving the court using his mobile phone.

Nick Kyrgios has fallen to world No 38 this season
Nick Kyrgios has fallen to world No 38 this season

The talented but temperamental Kyrgios, who is ranked 38th in the world, has a chequered history with Shanghai.

Last year, he was fined after he stormed off mid-way through his first-round match, with jeers and boos ringing from the crowd.

Two years ago he argued with spectators and was accused of giving away points in another defeat.

Defending champion Dzumhur stunned by Gerasimov
Nick Kyrgios put on a show on Tuesday as he returned to his winning ways, defeating home favourite Andrey Rublev 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 at the VTB Kremlin Cup in Moscow.

The fifth-seeded wild card, who suffered early exits in Tokyo and Shanghai, fired 25 aces and regularly impressed the Russian crowd with his shotmaking abilities en route to an 87-minute victory. The 23-year-old improves to 25-13 this season after denying Rublev a first victory in four appearances at the ATP World Tour 250 tournament.

Kyrgios will face Mirza Basic for a place in the quarter-finals. Earlier in the day, Basic overcame Malek Jaziri of Tunisia 7-6(4), 6-2. World No. 37 Kyrgios and Basic have never met at tour level.


Belarusian qualifier Egor Gerasimov struck 12 aces and lost just nine of his first-service points (36/45) in a 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-2 victory over defending champion Damir Dzumhur, the sixth seed from Bosnia and Herzegovina. He will next challenge Frenchman Benoit Paire, who overcame Mischa Zverev of Germany 7-6(6), 2-6, 6-1.
Andreas Seppi notched his third victory over Martin Klizan in four FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings, upsetting the eighth seed 6-1, 7-6(6). The Italian will meet Pierre-Hugues Herbert or Kazakh qualifier Alexander Bublik in the second round.

Russian Evgeny Donskoy saved four set points at 5/6, 6/7, 8/9 and 9/10 in the second set tie-break en route to beating 2013 runner-up Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan 6-4, 7-6(10) in one hour and 52 minutes. Donskoy, the 2015 Moscow semi-finalist, will next play fourth-seeded Serbian Filip Krajinovic.

Zgodnie ze słowami Szamila Tarpiszczewa, najważniejszego człowieka w rosyjskim tenisie, występ Nicka Kyrgiosa w turnieju ATP w Moskwie miał dać radość miejscowym kibicom. Tymczasem Australijczyk co najwyżej zawiódł lokalnych fanów. W pierwszym meczu wyeliminował reprezentanta gospodarzy, Andriej Rublowa, a do drugiego nie wyszedł. W czwartek, w II rundzie, miał zmierzyć się z Mirzą Basiciem, lecz oddał to spotkanie walkowerem z powodu kontuzji łokcia.

O efektowność w czwartek zadbał natomiast Danił Miedwiediew. Najwyżej aktualnie notowany rosyjski tenisista w swoim inauguracyjnym meczu w Kremlin Cup 2018 rozgromił Dusana Lajovicia. Wygrał 6:2, 6:1 w 53 minuty, zapisując na swoim koncie pięć asów, 65 proc. wygranych punktów przy własnym podaniu oraz pięć przełamań. W 1/4 finału rozstawiony z numerem drugim Rosjanin powalczy z Ricardasem Berankisem.

Nie powiodło się to za innemu rosyjskiemu tenisiście, Jewgienijowi Donskojowi. 28-latek z Moskwy pięciokrotnie został przełamany i przegrał 5:7, 4:6 z oznaczonym numerem czwartym Filipem Krajinoviciem. Serb w 1/4 finału zagra z Andreasem Seppim. Włoch po dwóch rozgrywkach tie breakowych pokonał Pierre'a-Huguesa Herberta.

Cameron Mofid was not unlike many junior tennis players. He dreamt of pushing his tennis as far as it would take him. But towards the end of last year, he decided to pursue new opportunities. At the time, Mofid was training at the Academia Sanchez-Casal in Florida. Casper Fernandez, a fellow trainee at the academy, whom Mofid had not met, had passed away earlier in the year after a battle with Ewing’s Sarcoma, a form of bone cancer.

That made Mofid want to recognise Fernandez’s life in some way.

“I sat down over the course of a few days and wrote down 25 innovative ideas for tennis-based organisations,” Mofid said. “I saw that building a platform where professional tennis players could donate their equipment would have a substantial philanthropic impact and subsequently honour Casper.”

That was how Legends United was born. Mofid has since traveled the world to various ATP World Tour events, where the 18-year-old asks players to donate used equipment, like a sweatband, a shirt or sneakers, to be auctioned off for charity.

View Donation Video From Boris Becker

View Donation Video From Andy Murray

And on Thursday, in partnership with Nick Kyrgios’ NK Foundation, Legends United launched its online auction to benefit both the NK Foundation and the Sean Karl Foundation, which allocates grants for Ewing’s Sarcoma research in memory of Sean Karl, a former University of Tennessee tennis player who passed away due to the bone cancer in 2014.

Legends United has collected items from more than 50 players thus far, and those will go up for auction in groups. View Auction

“I remember how apprehensive I was originally to present it to the players as I wasn’t sure it would be something they’d want to support," Mofid said. "Now, looking back and seeing how more than 50 of the world’s best athletes have supported the cause by donating and signing their equipment has been extraordinarily special.”

How has a teenager managed to do all of this? Emilio Sanchez Vicario, one of the co-founders of the Academia Sanchez-Casal, helped connect the teenager with tournaments so Mofid could gain internships for the week at different events. It was at his tournaments in Delray Beach, Miami and Madrid where Mofid began to get to know the ATP World Tour’s players and members of their team.

As Mofid was spreading the word about Legends United, he met Christos Kyrgios, Nick Kyrgios’ brother and the CEO of the NK Foundation, which was an ATP ACES For Charity grant recipient this year. The Australian loved Mofid’s enthusiasm, and they’ve partnered ever since.

“It was very exciting when Cameron came to me with this project. He was full of enthusiasm and passion about making this work and getting behind such a worthy cause,” Christos Kyrgios said. “He really wanted to create a vessel that allowed stars of the ATP to give back to the community.”



Kyrgios helped Mofid with some of the logistics, maintaining a home for the charity auction on the NK Foundation’s website. Some of the early items up for bidding include an Andy Murray signed towel, a hat signed by Boris Becker, used sneakers autographed by Pierre-Hugues Herbert, a signed shirt by Viktor Troicki and a number of match-used items from Nick Kyrgios.

While this item is not up for auction yet, one of the most memorable donations for Mofid came from former World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, who donated a match-worn shirt during the Mutua Madrid Open. Djokovic has long been dedicated to philanthropy, and his Novak Djokovic Foundation has received two ATP ACES For Charity grants in the past for its tremendous work in supporting childhood development.



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“Meeting Novak in Madrid earlier this year was one of the most memorable experiences throughout my travels. I remember how kind and gracious Novak was during our conversation. His immediate reaction was to sign and donate his match shirt from earlier in the day,” Mofid recalled. “The motivation from my time with Novak really pushed me to finish what I started.”

Legends United has brought together the players of the ATP World Tour in a philanthropic way, uniting them to support a common cause: charity.

“I am pleased to say that we have partnered with Legends United to help create an avenue where many top sporting legends both past and present can help us give back to the community and make a positive difference in the world,” Nick Kyrgios said.

Did You Know?
Emilio Sanchez Vicario and Feliciano Lopez, who received an ATP ACES For Charity grant this year for Fundacion Emilio Sanchez Vicario, announced in May the creation of the 2018 Casper Tour, a series of junior tennis events being held to honour the life of Casper Fernandez, the former Academia Sánchez-Casal student who motivated Mofid to create Legends United.