Nick Kyrgios has withdrawn from the Australian Open due to a knee injury.
The top-ranked Australian male, who pulled out of the United Cup due to the same issue, addressed the media on Monday afternoon confirming he won’t take part in his home grand slam.
Kyrgios appeared to be over the complaint in a practice match with Novak Djokovic on Friday night, but physiotherapist Will Maher, who accompanied the world No.21 to the press conference, confirmed not even an emergency surgery procedure could get the knee right to compete.
“I’m extremely disappointed,” Kyrgios said on Monday of his decision to pull out.
“I’m devastated. It’s brutal.”
Kyrgios has also withdrawn from the doubles tournament, in which he and Thanasi Kokkinakis were expected to defend their 2022 title.
Opponent Roman Safiullin, who Kyrgios was set to play on Tuesday night, will receive a walkover into the second round.
Kyrgios will head to Canberra for minor surgery, and is expected to recover in time for the next major tournament, Indian Wells in March.
After a breakthrough 2022 in which he made his first grand slam final at Wimbledon, Kyrgios was among the frontrunners to claim the singles trophy at Melbourne Park.
“One of my most important tournaments of my career – it hasn’t been easy at all,” he said of his emotions after withdrawing.
“Obviously this coming around is just bad timing. But that’s life – injury’s a part of the sport.”
Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)
Kyrgios’ long-term physiotherapist Maher elaborated further on the injury, saying while it is unlikely to interrupt his tennis season any further, he would have risked further injury had he attempted to play through the pain.
“During the last week or so, Nick’s experienced some discomfort in his knee,” Maher said.
“Had a routine MRI just to make sure everything was okay – there’s a parameniscal cyst growing in his lateral meniscus, which is a result of a small tear in his lateral meniscus.
“It’s not a significant injury in the sense it’s going to be career-threatening or anything like that. Even at that stage, it was still worth persevering to see if we could do anything to get him back on court.
“To Nick’s credit, he did try everything, to the point even last week, he was having a procedure called a fenestration and drainage, where they use a syringe to try and drain the cyst, which Nick has some pretty gruesome photos of – I’m sure he’ll probably share them later.
“It’s a relatively straightforward recovery through February for him. Very realistic to be back on the court for Indian Wells. It won’t interrupt his year tremendously, despite the fact it’s a great disappointment to withdraw from the Australian Open, his home slam.”
According to Maher, Kyrgios’ practice match with Djokovic last week was used to test whether he would be able to bring his A game at the Australian Open.
“We came to Melbourne with the hope that there might be some pressure relieved from that procedure and he’d have some relief and be able to get up to a level that he was comfortable to compete,” Maher said.
“We used the charity event against Novak [Djokovic] as a gauge to see if he could compete at that highest level. He didn’t pull up great, and he still tried to give himself every chance in the following days to have subsequent training.
“It was clear that, with each passing session, he was getting sorer and sorer, so we’ve made the sensible decision to withdraw him.
“At this stage, he wants to feel mentally comfortable that he can go seven matches, he can go the distance… getting on the court simply wasn’t enough for him.”
Kyrgios will now look to close friend Kokkinakis, who has battled a string of injuries since the pair squared off in the 2013 Australian Open boys singles final, as inspiration that he can recover and return to his brilliant best.
“I guess I can draw some inspiration from someone like Thanasi [Kokkinakis], who’s had a bunch of injuries and has bounced back,” he said.
“I’m not doubting that I’ll be back to my full strength and playing the tennis I was playing prior to this event.
“I’ve had some great memories here – last year, winning the title in doubles and playing the best tennis of my life possibly… all I can do now is just look forward, do what I need to do and come back.”
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