Kyrgios Withdraws From UTS Seoul & Postpones Comeback Due To Wrist Injury
Nick Kyrgios has pulled out from the last leg of the Ultimate Tennis Showdown (UTS) in Seoul due to a persistent wrist injury.
The UTS Seoul is the last stop of the international tennis league before the inaugural Grand Final in London. The event in South Korea is scheduled to take place from November 30 to December 3 at the Korea International Exhibition Center.
Kyrgios has played just one match this season which was during the grass swing in Stuttgart. Aside from that, he has spent the entire year nursing injuries. In January he underwent arthroscopic surgery on his knee and spent a huge chunk of the first half of the season working on his fitness.
He was determined to return to action in the grass swing until a complicated wrist issue forced him to withdraw from Wimbledon and a succession of events after that. That came at a cost as the Australian maverick became unranked for the first time since turning professional.
It looked like Kyrgios might prioritize a low-key event to ease himself back into competition and the UTS presented him with a perfect tournament to do so. But in his recent update about his recovery process, he sounded downbeat, even hinting at potentially skipping the 2024 Australian Open.
The news of Kyrgios' absence was confirmed by the UTS Tour on its social media platform and he will be replaced by Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka. The World No. 48 will complement the field that contains the likes of Gael Monfils, Milos Raonic, Richard Gasquet, Jan-Lennard Struff, and home player Soonwoo Kwon.
Nishioka played his last ATP tournament at the Paris Masters where he entered the event as a qualifier and was knocked out by Andrey Rublev in the second round. The UTS event in Seoul is the third leg of the series in 2023.
The champion in Seoul will automatically for the Grand Final in London which will be held from December 7 to 10. Holger Rune and Jack Draper were recently handed wild cards into the showpiece event and will join Casper Ruud, Yibing Wu, Andrey Rublev, and Gael Monfils there.
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