MELBOURNE – An “extremely disappointed” Nick Kyrgios pulled from the Australian Open on Monday – the day before he was due to play his singles match in the first round – from a knee injury requiring arthroscopic surgery.
Kyrgios, a 27-year-old from Australia, was the Second behind Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon in singles last year and teamed up with good friend Thanasi Kokkinakis for the men’s doubles championship at the 2022 Australian Open.
Kyrgios was seen as the host country’s best chance of winning a title at Melbourne Park this year; No Australian man has won the Singles Trophy there since 1976.
He announced his retirement on the first day of the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, appearing alongside his physio Will Maher at a press conference at Melbourne Park.
“I’m just exhausted from everything. Obviously pretty brutal,” Kyrgios said of the decision to sit out. “One of the most important tournaments of my career. It wasn’t easy at all.”
He was seeded 19th in Melbourne and was due to face Roman Safiullin in the first round on Tuesday.
Kyrgios is as capricious a character as in tennis, known for taking turns, sometimes brilliantly and sometimes disinterestedly playing, as well as for the occasional offbeat outburst during matches. He has spoken openly about dealing with mental health issues.
Kyrgios was also charged with assault in a pending court case in his hometown of Canberra.
He’s definitely an eye-catcher on and off a tennis court, which is why he’s one of the athletes featured in the new Netflix docuseries “Break Point” which debuted last week.
The Australian Open was set to be Kyrgios’ official debut of the season after he retired from tuneup play in early January. He used a show match against Djokovic on Friday in front of a full house in the Rod Laver Arena to test his knee, but that didn’t go well.
Maher said that after Kyrgios felt discomfort in his knee, an MRI scan revealed a cyst and a small tear in the lateral meniscus ligament. The coach said the issue was “not career-threatening” and Kyrgios should be able to return to competition by the time of the hard-court tournament in Indian Wells, California, in March.
___
AP Tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, transcribed or redistributed without permission.
