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Nick Kyrgios has announced that he will play mixed doubles with 23-time Grand Slam winner Venus Williams at Wimbledon 2021. Returning to the tour for the first tournament since his third-round exit at the Australian Open earlier this year, Kyrgios has also entered the singles draw at SW19.
Kyrgios broke the news of his new mixed doubles partnership while speaking to the media on Saturday.
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The Australian, who plays 25th seed Ugo Humbert in the first round of the singles event, didn't enter any tournament in the second half of 2020 due to pandemic-related travel concerns. He has played only two tournaments in 2021, both in his native country, as a result of which his ranking has dropped to No. 61.
Earlier in the week, Nick Kyrgios sent out feelers on social media that he was looking for a mixed doubles partner.
While it is unclear how the pairing eventually came about, Venus Williams had expressed her desire to partner Kyrgios in mixed doubles as far back as 2017.
Venus Williams is a two-time mixed doubles Slam winner while Nick Kyrgios is aiming for his first mixed title
Venus Williams is currently ranked No. 112 on the WTA charts, and she needed a wild card entry for the ladies singles event. That said, Wimbledon is a tournament she has won five times in singles and six times in ladies doubles, the latter of which were all with her sister Serena Williams.
Since reaching the second round of the Australian Open in February, Venus Williams has lost five matches in a row. She will be hoping to end that streak on the familiar lawns of the All England Club.
Williams has a 28-8 record in mixed doubles which includes two Grand Slam titles - the 1998 Australian Open and the 1998 French Open, both with fellow American Justin Gimelstob. She also reached the Wimbledon mixed doubles final in 2006 with Bob Bryan, and won the mixed doubles silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics with Rajeev Ram.
Nick Kyrgios, meanwhile, has a 6-6 record in mixed doubles. He has reached the second round at the Australian Open, the French Open and Wimbledon.
While the rest of the mixed doubles field remains unknown at this time, the pairing of Nick Kyrgios and Venus Williams will certainly go down as one of the most anticipated in recent tennis history. Kyrgios and Venus join a list of must-watch teams like Andy Murray / Serena Williams at Wimbledon 2019 and John McEnroe / Steffi Graf at Wimbledon 1999, and will likely fill the stands at every match they play.
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