Nick Kyrgios has withdrawn from the Australian Open on the eve of his opening match due to the knee injury that has significantly hampered the build-up to his home grand slam.
Kyrgios confirmed the news with a “mixture of emotions” in an unexpected media conference alongside his physiotherapist on Monday afternoon, the day before he was due to play his first-round match against Roman Safiullin.
The world No 21 pulled out of Australia’s United Cup campaign late last month before also withdrawing from the second of the Adelaide International warm-up events, leaving him with little preparation.
On Monday it was revealed an MRI uncovered a cyst caused by a tear in his meniscus, which his physio, Will Maher, said is not career-threatening but would not allow him to play at his best and risked affecting the remainder of his 2023 season should he attempt to put it through the rigour of a grand slam campaign.
Maher said Kyrgios “didn’t pull up great” from Friday’s exhibition match against Novak Djokovic and been experiencing discomfort the last week.
“We used the charity event against Novak to see if he could compete at the highest level … it was worth persevering to see if he can get back on court,” Maher said. “To Nick’s credit, he did everything to get back on court.”
The 27-year-old will have arthroscopic surgery to remove the cyst and recover through February, with a slated return in time for Indian Wells.
“It’s a mixture of emotions,” Kyrgios said. “The last slam I played was the US Open and I was very hard on myself after that. This injury hinders my knee, it hinders my movement. The only way to fix it is to get in there.
“It’s just bad timing. That’s life, you know. Injuries are part of sport … I’m not doubting that I’ll be back to my full strength. Devastated obviously. It’s my home tournament … and going into this event as one of the favourites, it’s brutal.”
It means Australia will be without its top-ranked men’s and women’s singles players, after Ajla Tomljanović also withdrew injured over the weekend.
More to follow.