Kyrgios out of Rotterdam to play in all-star basketball game
Nick Kyrgios has pulled out of the Rotterdam Open to play in basketball’s NBA All-Star Celebrity Game.
Tournament director Richard Krajicek has released the Australian, 21, from his contract so he can play in the game in New Orleans in February.
Kyrgios is suspended from the ATP Tour for not producing his “best effort” at last week’s Shanghai Masters.
However, he could return by 7 November, having agreed to an ATP plan that he consults a sports psychologist.
Kyrgios was suspended initially for eight tournament weeks, which would have kept him off the tour until 15 January, and fined $25,000 (£20,560).
The world number 14, who had won the Japan Open the previous week, patted the ball over the net several times when serving in his 6-3 6-1 second-round defeat by Mischa Zverev in China.
He also began walking back to his chair before a Zverev serve had landed.
Kyrgios subsequently said he was “truly sorry” and would use this time during his suspension “to improve on and off the court”.
The Australian represented his country at youth level as a basketball player, and said in an interview in June 2015 that he preferred the sport to tennis.
Asked then if he might have had a career in basketball, Kyrgios said: “I thought I was going to.
“I was trying to get there when I was 14 and every time when I’m playing now, I still think I can for some odd reason, even though I’m playing a completely different sport.
“That’s just the way it is and unfortunately I think my basketball career has come to an end.”
The NBA celebrity match is part of the organisation’s All-Star weekend. It features three matches, culminating in the prestigious All-Star Game on 19 February, involving the NBA’s top players.
This year’s weekend was originally to have been held in Charlotte, North Carolina, but was moved after state legislators introduced laws that limited anti-discrimination protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.