Barely 24 hours before he was scheduled to begin a campaign that he hoped would culminate with Australian Open glory, Nick Kyrgios has withdrawn from the tournament with a knee injury.
Kyrgios, a finalist at Wimbledon last summer, convened an impromptu press briefing alongside Will Maher, his physiotherapist, to announce that an MRI has revealed a small tear in his left meniscus. While the damage is not expected to cause any long-term damage, a cyst has formed in the area and Kyrgios will travel to Canberra at the end of the week to undergo arthroscopic surgery.
“I’m devastated,” said Kyrgios, who was due to play Russia’s Roman Safiullin in the opening round on Tuesday. “It’s like my home tournament. I’ve had some great memories here. Obviously last year, winning the title in doubles [with Thanasi Kokkinakis] and playing the best tennis of my life probably. Then going into this event as one of the favourites, it’s brutal.”
Doubts first emerged about Kyrgios’s fitness when he withdrew from Australia’s United Cup team at the 11th hour. The 27-year-old subsequently pulled out of a warm-up event in Adelaide too, and when he felt further soreness after playing a charity exhibition match against Novak Djokovic on Friday, hope began to dwindle.
Maher said Kyrgios had tried everything possible to be ready in time, but neither pain-killing injections nor efforts to drain the cyst using a syringe proved effective.
“We used the charity event against Novak as a gauge to see if he could compete at that highest level,” said Maher. “He didn’t pull up great, and he still tried to give himself every chance in the following days to have subsequent training. But it was clear that with each passing session that he was getting sorer and sorer.
“I think we’ve made the sensible decision to withdraw him because at this stage he wants to feel mentally comfortable that he can go seven matches, he can go the distance, and needs to be able to do potentially seven three-hour matches. Getting on the court simply wasn’t enough for him.”
Kyrgios’s injury, which follows the withdrawal of Ajla Tomljanovic, who also has a knee problem, means neither of Australia’s No 1 players will feature at Melbourne Park. It also deprives the tournament of what would have been a highly anticipated potential quarter-final between Kyrgios and Djokovic.
With Kyrgios and Tomljanovic joining Paula Badosa on the treatment table, there is talk among the players of “The curse of Netflix”. All three players were featured in the early episodes of the documentary series.
But for Kyrgios, the sting lies principally in the disappointment of missing a tournament he has had in his sights since suffering a surprise defeat to Karen Khachanov in the last eight of the US Open.
“I was extremely hard on myself after that loss in the [US Open] quarter-finals,” said Kyrgios. “[The] Oz Open was in the back of my mind from that day forth, as soon as I got off the court against Khachanov.
“I always wanted to just do everything right and train right and tick every box, and just be ready for the Oz Open.
“Obviously, this coming around is just bad timing. But that’s life. Injury is a part of the sport.”