A dejected Nick Kyrgios was pressured to withdraw from the Australian Open on Monday – the day previous to his much-anticipated opening spherical singles match – after being recognized with an injured left knee requiring arthroscopic surgical procedure.
Kyrgios, the 27-year-old Australian sensation, made a outstanding run to the Wimbledon singles finals final yr, finally falling to Novak Djokovic in a hard-fought match.
The pair of pals, Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis, then mixed to seize the lads’s doubles title on the 2022 Australian Open, cementing their standing as one of the vital formidable duo within the sport.
Kyrgios was thought of the host nation’s strongest contender to win a title at Melbourne Park this yr; no man from Australia has received the singles trophy there since 1976.
“Just unhealthy timing. But that’s life. Injury is part of the game,” stated a downcast Kyrgios, who often lowered his head or coated his face with a hand throughout a news convention at Melbourne Park alongside his bodily therapist, Will Maher.
Kyrgios introduced his withdrawal on the primary day of motion on the yr’s first Grand Slam match. “I’m simply exhausted. Obviously fairly brutal. One of a very powerful tournaments of my profession, hasn’t been simple in any respect,” stated Kyrgios of the choice to take a seat out.
He was seeded 19th in Melbourne and was purported to face Roman Safiullin within the first spherical on Tuesday.
“Barely had evening’s sleep the final 4, 5 nights. It’s simply been throbbing. Every time I land on serve or push off my serve, you may see on the facet of my knee there’s like a bit of lump. That lump will ultimately simply get larger and greater. There’s strain on my knee (that) clearly hinders my motion. Yeah, the one actual technique to do away with it’s to open up after which simply do away with it,” stated Kyrgios.
He is a mercurial character in tennis, recognized for alternating sometimes-brilliant and sometimes-uninterested play, in addition to mixing within the occasional outlandish outburst throughout matches. He has spoken frankly about coping with psychological well being points.
Kyrgios additionally has been going through a cost of assault in a pending court docket case in his hometown of Canberra.
He is nothing if not attention-grabbing on and off a tennis court docket, actually, which is why he is without doubt one of the athletes featured within the new Netflix docuseries “Break Point” that made its debut final week.
The Australian Open was purported to mark Kyrgios’ official season debut after he withdrew from tuneup play earlier in January. He used an exhibition match towards Djokovic on Friday in entrance of a packed home at Rod Laver Arena to check the knee, however that didn’t go nicely.
Maher stated that an MRI examination after Kyrgios felt discomfort in his knee revealed a cyst and a small tear within the lateral meniscus ligament. The coach stated the issue is “not career-threatening,” and that Kyrgios ought to be capable to return to competitors by the hard-court match at Indian Wells, California, in March.
“Look, I’m not doubting I can be again to my full energy and taking part in the tennis I used to be taking part in previous to this occasion. Yeah, I’m devastated clearly. It’s like my dwelling match. I’ve had some nice reminiscences right here. Obviously final yr, profitable the title in doubles and taking part in the most effective tennis of my life, most likely. Then going into this occasion as one of many favorites, it’s brutal,” stated Kyrgios.
“All I can do now, is simply look ahead, do what I must do and are available again,” he added.
