World number 35 Nick Kyrgios is expected to cascade down the ATP Rankings significantly in the next two weeks after pulling out from the upcoming Citi Open in Washington.
Kyrgios won't return to defend the lone ATP title he won at last summer's North American hard-court swing. The Australian gave an update regarding the withdrawal, saying that his body is not up to the required standards of competition, while his wrist hasn't healed just yet.
Kyrgios' no-show in nearly all grass court tournaments saw his ranking take a sharp nosedive to outside the world's Top 30. He was ranked as high as 19th in February but is guaranteed to drop as low as 89th for missing his title defense in D.C. with 675 points.
The 28-year-old hasn't set a return date, although he has been at the forefront of championing tennis as a brand, most notably at Wimbledon, where he admitted to watching a full tennis match for the first time in a while and coaching Frances Tiafoe at the Ultimate Tennis Showdown this past week.
"Unfortunately my body is not ready to compete yet. My wrist is still not anywhere near to pain-free. Keep you all updated."
So far, Kyrgios has played one match this season - a first-round defeat to China's Yibing Wu in Stuttgart. He skipped the entire grass swing despite making a full recovery from a knee injury he sustained in January, which caused him to miss high-profile events on home soil, including the Australian Open.
Kyrgios' withdrawal leaves the tournament organizers at the Citi Open in a state bedlam, as the growing list of big-name absentees continues to stretch. World number three Daniil Medvedev pulled out for an undisclosed reason, while Denis Shapovalov is ruled out due to injury.
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