Nick Kyrgios suddenly withdrew from the Australian Open on Monday with a knee injury, a little more than 24 hours ahead of his scheduled first-round match.
Get well soon @NickKyrgios 😔#AusOpen pic.twitter.com/GGXi77Dtd4
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) January 16, 2023
“I’m devastated, obviously,” Kyrgios said. “It’s my home tournament, I’ve had some great memories here – obviously last year winning the title in doubles and playing the best tennis of my life probably.
Last year, the 27-year-old Australian, was the runner-up to Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon, He teamed with good friend Thanasi Kokkinakis to win the men’s doubles championship at the 2022 Australian Open.
“Then going into this event as one of the favorites, it’s brutal. “It always goes back to the last grand slam I played, the US Open … I was extremely hard on myself after that loss in the quarter-finals, thinking that I could win it from there on.
“I just had the Aus Open on the back of my mind from that day forth as soon as I got off the court against [Karen] Khachanov. I always wanted to just do everything right and train right and tick every box, and just be ready for the Aus Open.”
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.