Nick Kyrgios has pulled out of Wimbledon after a scan revealed that he has torn a ligament in his wrist.
Kyrgios, a finalist at the All England Club last year, has barely played since undergoing knee surgery in January, and admitted ahead of his opening-round meeting with Belgium’s David Goffin that there were “still some question marks” surrounding his fitness. The Australian, seeded 30th, said he was nonetheless “extremely confident” of finding his form, only to announce his withdrawal from the tournament just a few hours later.
“I’m really sad to say that I have to withdraw from Wimbledon this year,” Kyrgios wrote on Instagram. “I tried my hardest to be ready after my surgery and be able to step on the Wimbledon courts again.
“During my comeback I experienced some pain in my wrist during the week of [the] Mallorca [Open]. As a precaution I had it scanned, and it came back showing a torn ligament.
“I tried everything to be able to play and I am disappointed to say that I just didn’t have enough time to manage it before Wimbledon.”
Another injury setback represents a significant blow for Kyrgios, whose protracted layoff has come hard on the heels of the best season of his career. The 28-year-old followed last year’s success at Wimbledon with a title win in Washington and a run to the quarter-finals at the US Open, where he deposed defending champion Daniil Medvedev. But he has played just one match since last October, and spoke at his pre-tournament press of the “heartbreak” he experienced after a torn meniscus forced him to miss the Australian Open.
“Last year I felt like everything kind of came together for me,” said Kyrgios. “Finals of Wimbledon. Barely lost a match. Had the third best season on tour. Obviously, my body was just crying out for some sort of rest. I needed to do what I had to do. It’s been brutal.
“Pulling out of Australian Open was one of the hardest things I had to do because I generally feel like, with the tennis I was playing and with my grand slam experience, just the way I was feeling, I felt like I could win that tournament.
“Obviously, from then I had to get surgery. It’s been brutal because everyone is expecting you to be the same player that I was straightaway. That’s been really hard.”
In a year when Novak Djokovic is further ahead of the rest of the field than ever before, the presence of Kyrgios in the defending champion’s half of the draw teased the intriguing possibility of a repeat of last summer’s final. Instead, Kyrgios’s withdrawal removes a potential obstacle from Djokovic’s path while depriving the tournament of a major draw card.
“Sorry to hear your news, Nick Kyrgios,” read a message on Wimbledon’s official Twitter account. “Wishing you a swift recovery and hope to see you back on our courts next year.”