A “devastated” Nick Kyrgios pulled out of the Australian Open on Monday – a day before he was scheduled to play his first round singles match – with a left knee injury that required arthroscopic surgery.
Australia’s Kyrgios, 27, was runner-up in singles to Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon last year and has teamed up with good friend Thanasi Kokkinakis to claim the men’s doubles championship at the 2022 Australian Open.
Kyrgios was considered the host nation’s strongest chance of winning the title at Melbourne Park this year; No Australian has won the singles trophy there since 1976.
“Just bad times. But that’s life,” said a somber Kyrgios, who occasionally lowered his head or covered his face with his hand during a press conference at Melbourne Park with his physical therapist Will Maher. “Injury is a part of the game.”
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Kyrgios announced his return on the first day of action at the first Grand Slam tournament of the year.
“I’m just tired of everything. Quite brutal obviously,” Kyrgios said of the decision to sit out. “One of the most important tournaments of my career. It hasn’t been easy at all.”
He was seeded 19th in Melbourne and will face Roman Safiullin in the first round on Tuesday.
“The last four, five nights barely had a good night’s sleep. Throbbing now. … Every time I land a serve or push my serve, you can see I have a little lump on the side of my knee. That lump will eventually get bigger and bigger, Kyrgios said.
“I have pressure on my knee (that) obviously hinders my movement. Yeah, the only real way to get rid of it is to open it up and then get rid of it.”
He is as fickle a character as there is in tennis, known for playing sometimes brilliantly and sometimes nonstop, as well as mixing in occasional outbursts during matches.
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He has spoken openly about dealing with mental health issues.
Kyrgios is also facing a charge of assault in a pending court case in his hometown of Canberra.
She certainly loves nothing but attention on and off the tennis court, which is why she’s one of the athletes featured in the new. netflix documentary “Break Point” which made its debut last week.
The Australian Open was supposed to mark the start of Kyrgios’ official season after he withdrew from tuneup play earlier in January.
He used an exhibition match against Djokovic on Friday in front of a packed house at Rod Laver Arena to test the knee, but it did not go well.
Maher said that after Kyrgios felt discomfort in his knee, an MRI examination showed a cyst and a small tear in the lateral meniscus ligament.
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The coach said the problem is “not career-threatening,” and that Kyrgios should be able to return to competition by the hard-court tournament in Indian Wells, California, in March.
“Look, I have no doubt that I will be back to my full strength and play the tennis that I was playing before this incident.”
“Yeah, I’m devastated obviously. It’s like my home tournament. I have some great memories here – obviously last year, winning the doubles title and playing the best tennis of my life, probably. Back at the event Going in as one of the favourites, it’s brutal,” Kyrgios said.
He said, “All I can do now is look ahead, do what I have to do and come back.”
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)