Nick Kyrgios is set to join forces with US billionaire Bill Ackman on the doubles court. The Australian tennis star previously offered the hedge fund manager some tennis lessons before they decided to take things a step further and play a professional match together.
Ackman was inspired after seeing Kyrgios team up with Novak Djokovic in doubles and the idea snowballed. It comes after the billionaire publicly supported the Professional Tennis Player Association’s lawsuit against four major tennis bodies – a suit Kyrgios also signed.
Kyrgios has enjoyed success in doubles with various partners over the years. His greatest success came at the 2022 Australian Open, when he linked up with good friend Thanasi Kokkiankis to lift the title. They also qualified for the ATP Finals in doubles that season.
The 29-year-old has three other doubles titles, which came alongside either Kokkinakis or Jack Sock. And Kyrgios has enjoyed star-studded partnerships with Novak Djokovic and Venus Williams.
The former world No. 13 is now set to embark on an unusual doubles journey with billionaire hedge fund manager Ackman as they seek a win on the professional circuit.
“@BillAckman & I have decided we will play doubles somewhere later in the year! See if we can win a round at the futures level!!! Any ideas where we should play?” Kyrgios tweeted.
Ackman then gave an insight into how their partnership came to be, revealing that Kyrgios reached out to him after he posted about the Aussie’s doubles run with Djokovic.
“A fun story: I reposted an incredible @NickKyrgios @DjokerNole doubles point, and Nick replied with an offer of a tennis lesson,” he wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter).
“I DM’d him taking him up on the offer and sent him some practice and doubles match videos. He then proposed that we are going to play a futures together (and win).
“I signed on. I am going all-in on training beginning Monday when I am back from Spring Break. The bigger the crowd, the higher the probability we will win! We look forward to seeing you.”
It remains to be seen when and where Kyrgios and Ackman begin their Futures tour campaign.
For now, the American billionaire has shown his support for Kyrgios and other players who signed a lawsuit against the ATP, WTA, ITF and International Tennis Integrity Agency.
The suit branded the four bodies a “cartel” and accused them of working together to implement “draconian, anticompetitive restraints and abusive practices.”
Ackman is believed to have financially supported the PTPA in its early days after it was founded by Djokovic and Vasek Pospisil.
“These lawsuits and the resulting judicial outcomes will revolutionise tennis for the players and create much greater opportunities for the most talented – regardless of their socioeconomic background – to make a living from the game,” Ackman recently wrote on social media.
