Bouchard, Kyrgios seek mixed-doubles wild card at U.S. Open

Someone still loves you, Nick Kyrgios. Enter Genie Bouchard.

The 21-year-old Canadian, suffering a slump to a No. 25 ranking this season, intends to play mixed doubles with the embattled 20-year-old Aussie at the U.S. Open. That is, if the pair can win a wild-card entry to the year's final major event.

“He’s energetic and charismatic, and that’s a really unique thing that we don’t have so much on the tour,” Bouchard said, “so I think we need people like him on the tour.”

Despite all of Kyrgios' recent travails, notably self-imposed, here's the thing: Bouchard's not wrong. Aside from Serena Williams seizing the calendar-year Grand Slam or Roger Federer surging to his 18th career Grand Slam singles title, few things would ignite talk of tennis among general sports fans than Kyrgios rising to the apex of this sport.

If he and Bouchard receive that coveted wild card, they're sure to have fun on court to boot.

And that's precisely what Genie could really use, most recently winning just one game in her Connecticut Open match against Roberta Vinci, a good player but someone we would have expected her to beat not long ago.

Meanwhile, one star player who won't be pairing with Kyrgios in doubles soon is Rafael Nadal, but not because he actively expresses a desire not to do so. The New York Post reports that Nadal says he was never supposed to play with or against Kyrgios at John McEnroe's charity event last week, clarifying the notion that he had begged off doing so. To the surprise of few, this corrected the Post's own earlier report that Nadal wanted nothing to do with his younger peer.

Kyrgios will open his singles campaign in Flushing Meadows against word No. 3 Andy Murray, who has described their impending encounter as "just a tennis match." And so it is.

Follow Jon on Twitter @jonscott9. News tips gladly accepted. Serving tips kindly refused.