Nick Kyrgios praises Alex de Minaur and team for their efforts after Team Australia reaches the Davis Cup final
Nick Kyrgios congratulated compatriot Alex de Minaur for his stunning performance against Marin Cilic in the 2022 Davis Cup semifinals on Friday.
De Minaur defeated former US Open champion Cilic in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2, to help Australia beat Croatia 2-1 and reach the Davis Cup final for the first time since 2003.
Kyrgios took to his Instagram stories to praise the 23-year-old, writing:
"Tuff boi."
De Minaur was full of praise for Cilic after the match, stating that he had to be at his best to beat the veteran Croat.
“Marin’s a hell of a competitor, a veteran player of our sport that has accomplished amazing things," said the World No. 24. "I knew what to expect, so I knew it was never going to be easy. I knew I had to bring all the intensity I could, be as solid as I could, and try to be solid but aggressive at the same time.”
"Obviously we would have loved to have Nick Kyrgios play" - Lleyton Hewitt
Lleyton Hewitt, Australia's Davis Cup captain, previously stated that he would have loved to have Nick Kyrgios on his team this year, especially considering the incredible season he has had.
"Obviously we would have loved to have Nick play," he said in a press conference. "You know, he's had an incredible year and not played that many tournaments, to be honest. Yeah, we all know the capability of how he can play high-level tennis when he's motivated."
Hewitt was extremely proud of his players following Australia's semifinal win over Croatia, saying that they made a lot of sacrifices throughout the year and deserved to be in the final.
"Just proud. Yeah, and the whole team, the support staff, the hitting partners, Kubes, who is the sixth guy on the team, these guys make a lot of sacrifices to come here, and they have done it all year for me, for me and the coaching staff, and they do absolutely everything that we ask of them and they deserve to get results like that," Hewitt said in the presser.