Nick Kyrgios recently took to social media to share his excitement about coaching Frances Tiafoe at the Ultimate Tennis Showdown (UTS) event scheduled to be held in the city of Los Angeles beginning on July 21.
The UTS on Thursday announced on Instagram that Kyrgios will be attending the event as Tiafoe's coach. He will team up with the World No. 10 in the three-day event.
The Australian reposted UTS' announcement on his Instagram Stories and expressed his enthusiasm for the upcoming event.
"Yeah... gonn be crazy," he wrote.
The 28-year-old was scheduled to play at the Los Angeles event but decided otherwise after failing to completely recover from the same wrist injury that kept him out of the 2023 Wimbledon. The Australian previously shared his injury update on Instagram and teased his involvement in the event as a coach.
"I just want to let you know that I am still recovering and getting my wrist right to be back on the court soon,” he wrote. "Don’t worry though! I will still be coming to LA and the UTS event. Maybe I’ll coach… any suggestions.”
The UTS officially confirmed Kyrgios involvement as a coach in an Instagram post on Friday.
"We're not lying to you. This is tennis like you've never seen it before. King Kyrgios will coach @bigfoe1998 this weekend for the UTS Los Angeles," they wrote.
The Australian will be replaced by Benoit Paire in the event's line-up. The 34-year-old recently failed to advance to the main draw of the 2023 Wimbledon Championships after losing to Germany's Oscar Otte in the qualifiers. Paire currently sits at the 131st spot in the ATP rankings.
About the Ultimate Tennis Showdown event
The Ultimate Tennis Showdown is a new format of the sport launched in 2020 by Patrick Mouratoglou. Mouratoglou is a renowned tennis coach, having mentored Serena Williams and Stefanos Tsitsipas in the past. Tsitsipas ended his association with Mouratoglou after reaching the final of this year's Australian Open. The French coach most recently worked as a head coach for Danish younster Holger Rune.
The UTS tournament aims to shake up the tennis scene with its unconventional rules and fast-paced action. A match at the event is played out in four quarters of eight minutes each instead of the traditional set format. Players are required to outscore each other during each quarter, with the one who first secures three quarters declared the winner of the match.