Nick Kyrgios has signed up to a lucrative tournament for his comeback.

Nick Kyrgios asked Casper Ruud to be nice ahead of his comeback

Nick Kyrgios asked Casper Ruud to be nice ahead of his comeback (Image: Instagram @u.t.s_tour)

Nick Kyrgios has sent a plea to Casper Ruud ahead of his return to competition.

The former world No. 13 has played just one singles match in the last 22 months after being sidelined by knee and wrist injuries.

But he will be back in action at the Ultimate Tennis Showdown – an exhibition league with unconventional rules, where £230,000 ($300,000) is on offer for the tournament winner.

UTS is the perfect tournament for Kyrgios. The brainchild of Patrick Mouratoglou, the event encourages players to show their emotions and is played with a unique format with each match made up of four quarters of eight minutes.

It’s also a good chance for the 2022 Wimbledon finalist to test himself against top players after more than a year out of the game. The Australian has already contested one exhibition match this week – a mixed doubles event at the US Open with Naomi Osaka, which they lost.

And he will be thrown in the deep end with his first singles outing against world No.8 Ruud. Kyrgios takes on the Norwegian on Thursday night and he has already pleaded with the 12-time title winner to “be nice” to him.

Nick Kyrgios tested himself in a mixed doubles exhibition match with Naomi Osaka

Nick Kyrgios tested himself in a mixed doubles exhibition match with Naomi Osaka (Image: X @USOpen)

In a video for the UTS Instagram, the 29-year-old confirmed his comeback before addressing Ruud. “Hey guys, it’s NK here. Just want to inform everyone that keeps up with the UTS or is a tennis fan out there that I will be competing on the 22nd off August at the Forest Hill Stadium in New York,” he started.

“I know it’s been a long time but my body is finally ready to get back out there and have some fun I’ll see if I’m still able to go up against some of the best players in the world, starting off with my old rival Casper Ruud.”

Turning his attention to the three-time Grand Slam finalist, Kyrgios added: “Casper, please take it easy on me! I can’t wait be out there again competing in front of all of the amazing fans and hopefully I can still bring some life to this sport.”

International BNL d'Italia - Day Five

Nick Kyrgios was defaulted when he faced Casper Ruud in 2019 (Image: Getty)

Kyrgios and Ruud have a rocky history, dating back to their first meeting at the Italian Open in 2019, where the Aussie was defaulted for throwing a chair. Ruud celebrated as if it was a normal victory and later branded his opponent “completely crazy”, claiming Kyrgios acted like an “idiot”.

The seven-time title winner hit back on social media, appearing to make fun of Ruud’s quest for a spot in the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan later that year. “Hey @CasperRuud98 next time you have something to say, I would appreciate you say it to my face, I’m sure you wouldn’t run your mouth so much after that. Until then I will continue to rather watch paint dry then watch you play tennis, boring af,” he wrote.

“But again, I also understand why you have to keep my name in your mouth, because people dont even realise that you play tennis. goodluck in Milan champ x”. When they faced off again in 2022, with Kyrgios coming out on top, he said: “I hear no talking now, none.”

Since then, both men have patched things up. Later that year, Ruud said there were no hard feelings and noted that they said hello to each other when they saw each other. He also revealed that previously Kyrgios congratulated him at the Laver Cup.