MELBOURNE, Australia — After spending the previous week receiving all of the laurels of a hometown favourite, Nick Kyrgios all of a sudden withdrew from the Australian Open on Monday with a knee damage, a little bit greater than 24 hours forward of his scheduled first-round match.
In an interview Friday, Kyrgios, the temperamental Australian star who was a finalist at Wimbledon final 12 months, mentioned he had been battling soreness in his left knee through the low season, however he anticipated to have the ability to play within the 12 months’s first Grand Slam.
Those hopes took a flip for the more severe Friday after a charity match with Novak Djokovic.
“Extremely disappointed,” Kyrgios mentioned throughout a information convention Monday afternoon at Melbourne Park. “Pretty brutal. One of the most important tournaments of my career.”
After climbing from exterior the highest 100 in 2021 to play deep into two Grand Slam tournaments final 12 months, Kyrgios was among the many favorites heading into the Australian Open, the place he received the boys’s doubles title final 12 months with fellow Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis.
The first signal that issues weren’t going as deliberate emerged in late December, when Kyrgios pulled out of the United Cup, a crew competitors, simply earlier than the beginning of the occasion. He then withdrew from an Australian Open tuneup event in Adelaide, hoping that he could be wholesome sufficient by the beginning of the Australian Open this week.
Will Maher, Kyrgios’s longtime physiotherapist, mentioned through the Monday information convention that Kyrgios underwent an M.R.I. final week that exposed each a cyst and a slight tear in his meniscus. Maher mentioned Kyrgios will go residence to Canberra for a process later this week. He will spend February rehabilitating the knee and is hoping to be wholesome sufficient to play in March within the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif.
“There’s a parameniscal cyst growing in his left meniscus, which is the result of a small tear in his lateral meniscus.” Maher mentioned. “It’s not a significant injury in the sense that it’s going to be career-threatening, or anything like that.”
Maher mentioned Kyrgios had carried out every little thing he might to have the ability to compete. Last week, he underwent a process to empty the cyst. He additionally obtained injections to alleviate the stress, and whereas there was momentary aid, the soreness elevated in latest days. Maher mentioned enjoying might danger making a extra vital damage, reminiscent of a tear in his anterior cruciate ligament, or A.C.L.
Kyrgios mentioned that as quickly as he misplaced within the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open in September, his thoughts shifted to the Australian Open, the place he preferred his probabilities on hardcourts in entrance of raucous residence crowds.
“I always wanted to just do everything right and train right and tick every box, and just be ready,” Kyrgios mentioned. He added, “Obviously, this coming around is just bad timing. But that’s life. Injury is a part of the sport.”
He mentioned he was assured that he would be capable to regain the shape that made him one of many world’s most feared gamers, however surgical procedure is the one approach to get there.
“Every time I land on serve or push off my serve, you can see on the side of my knee there’s like a little lump,” he mentioned. “That lump will eventually just get bigger and bigger. There’s pressure on my knee, obviously hinders my movement. The only real way to get rid of it is to open up and then just get rid of it.”
Kyrgios has one other critical situation to cope with in Canberra within the coming weeks.
In early February, Kyrgios is due in courtroom to face a cost of frequent assault stemming from an altercation with an ex-girlfriend, Chiara Passari, in December 2021. Kyrgios has declined to debate the matter because it grew to become public throughout his run to the Wimbledon closing in July.
Common assault is the least critical assault cost in Australia, however it implies that the sufferer skilled fast, illegal violence, or the specter of it, although not bodily damage. Kyrgios’s legal professionals have mentioned they are going to mount a protection centered on psychological sickness, citing his historical past of melancholy and substance abuse, struggles Kyrgios has mentioned will at all times be with him however that he now has below management. If the courtroom accepts this protection and dismisses the case, it might then resolve to impose a remedy plan. The most penalty for frequent assault is 2 years’ imprisonment.
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