‘Devastated’ Nick Kyrgios sensationally withdraws from the Australian Open with a knee injury and shares a gruesome photo: ‘It’s brutal… I played the best tennis of my life’
- Shocking news comes after the Aussie star originally struggled with a bad ankle
- Star has a tear in his lateral meniscus and a cyst on his joint, an MRI showed
- The injury is not career-threatening, Kyrgios is confident he will make a full recovery
Nick Kyrgios has pulled out of the Australian Open with a knee injury just a day before his first round match against Roman Safiullin in the tournament’s latest hammer blow.
The 27-year-old was Australia’s best shot at a Grand Slam title and originally struggled with an ankle injury that prevented him from playing any of the warm-up tournaments before play began at Melbourne Park.
A routine MRI, performed after Kyrgios developed discomfort in his knee, revealed he has a tear in his lateral meniscus and a cyst, his physical therapist, Will Maher, explained.
Kyrgios cut a losing figure as he announced he was forced to withdraw from his home Grand Slam (pictured): “I’m obviously devastated.”
The 19th seed for the Open said he may be playing the best tennis of his life – which made his forced retirement even harder to bear
The big Aussie hope (pictured with girlfriend Costeen Hatzi) said the injury was not career-threatening and he had no doubt he would make a full recovery
The injury is not serious enough to be career-threatening and has only become an issue in the past two weeks, he said.
The star said he was shattered to be forced to withdraw from his home grand slam, where many saw him as an opportunity to do even better than at Wimbledon, where he lost the final to Novak Djokovic last year.
“I’m obviously devastated, it’s my home grand slam,” he said at a press conference shortly after the news broke on Monday afternoon.
“I’m just exhausted from everything. Pretty brutal, one of the most important tournaments of my career. Wasn’t easy at all.’
“It’s my home tournament, I have some great memories here. Obviously I won the doubles title last year and probably played the best tennis of my life.
“Going into this event as one of the favorites is brutal.
“Now all I can do is look ahead, do what I have to do and just come back… Obviously a mix of emotions… that’s life. It’s part of the sport.
The 27-year-old shared a gruesome image of what was drained from his knee with a syringe shortly after breaking the news that he had to leave the Grand Slam
Kyrgios’ physiotherapist Will Maher joined the star to break the news that shocked the tennis world on Monday afternoon, less than 24 hours before he was due to take to the court
“I have no doubt that I will find my way back to my full strength.”
Kyrgios will travel to his hometown of Canberra in the next two weeks for surgery on the injury.
His withdrawal is the latest in a string of blows for the Australian Open, which have already lost big drawcards Naomi Osaka, men’s No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz and Australia’s best women’s singles hope Ajla Tomljanovic.
Kyrgio’s doubles partner and great pal Thanasi Kokkinakis – with whom he won the men’s doubles title at last year’s Australian Open – is also sure to be rocked by the news.
Kyrgios and his team used last Friday night’s charity match against Novak Djokovic (pictured) as a test by fire to see if he can continue playing – but he’s fared poorly
The 27-year-old also retired from the United Cup in December 24 hours ahead of schedule, but that was due to an ankle injury sustained in Dubai
Maher explained that the injury would have gotten worse if the star had tried to play through after failing to recover while playing against Novak Djokovic in a charity match last Friday night.
“We used the charity event against Novak to see if he could compete at the highest level,” Maher said.
“He didn’t do well. It was a rather interrupted and difficult introduction.
“For the last week Nick has had knee discomfort… it was worth holding on to see if he can get back on the pitch.
“To Nick’s credit, he did everything he could to get back on the pitch.”
Maher also revealed that Kyrgios had drained the cyst with a syringe: “Nick has some pretty gruesome photos of it. I’m sure he’ll probably share them later.”
Kyrgios also withdrew from the United Cup team tournament just 24 hours before Australia’s first game in late December, citing an ankle injury sustained in Dubai as the reason.
Australia team captain Lleyton Hewitt accused the star of “throwing me under the bus” with his late withdrawal.