Aussie tennis star Nick Kyrgios meets Norway's Casper Ruud in upcoming Ultimate Tennis Showdown

Australia’s tennis star Nick Kyrgios is set to begin his on-court action against Norway’s Casper Ruud at the Ultimate Tennis Showdown. The 29-year-old was once regarded as the most talented Australian player in men’s tennis in the singles category, but injuries have kept him away from the court over the last two seasons.

Kyrgios is set to return to the court later this year in the Ultimate Tennis Showdown (UTS) as one of the four unseeded players. His first opponent is Norway’s Ruud against whom he had an interesting past where the two did not agree on somethings. Kyrgios was recently quoted in a report as expressing excitement to play in the competition after nearly spending two years on the sidelines because of fitness concerns.

"I want to inform anyone that keeps up with UTS, or is a tennis fan out there, that I will be competing on the 22nd August at the Forest Hills Stadium in New York,” he said. “I know it’s been a long time. But my body’s finally ready to get back out there and have some fun. I'll see if I am still able to go against some of the best players in the world starting off with my old rival, Casper Ruud. Casper, please take it easy on me. I can't wait to be out there competing in front of all the amazing fans hopefully I can still bring some life to the sport."

The competition is reportedly very famous in the tennis community because it offers players a unique opportunity to play under a different set of rules. At the UTS, the matches are played in quarters instead of sets, and each quarter lasts eight minutes. Every point is counted as one instead of 15 as in normal tennis. There is also a rule of sudden death to decide a tiebreaker situation.