Nick Kyrgios withdraws from 2023 Australian Open because of injury
ATP
Nick Kyrgios won't compete at the 2023 Australian Open, and he was devastated after announcing his withdrawal.
The talented Australian player enjoyed the best season of his tennis career in 2022. He won his first Grand Slam doubles title at the Australian Open, and later in the year, Kyrgios also played in the Wimbledon Championships singles final.
On top of that, he also lifted the Citi Open trophy, and it seemed that things started finally clicking for him. But in 2023, the season didn't start as he probably expected it to.
Shortly before the start of the Australian Open, Kyrgios had to announce his withdrawal, even though he appeared on the tennis court only a few days ago. He played an exhibition match against Novak Djokovic and even beat the Serbian player.
"Obviously, extremely disappointed. I know you guys will all be wondering what’s going on, so my physio Will [Maher] has been with me throughout my career, and he’s been monitoring me pretty closely the last week and he’s going to give you more of the details about what’s kinda gone on."
"Obviously, I am just exhausted from everything, and [it’s] obviously pretty brutal in one of the most important tournaments of my career, and it hasn’t been easy at all. It’s just bad timing. That’s life, you know. Injuries are part of the sport."
"I’m not doubting that I’ll be back to my full strength. I’m devastated, obviously. It’s like my home tournament. I’ve had some great memories here. Obviously, last year, winning the title in doubles and playing the best tennis of my life, probably. Then going into this event as one of the favorites, it’s brutal."
Kyrgios' physio, Will Maher, also spoke about the decision to withdraw from the tournament. He admitted that it was a decision made to avoid making the Australian's injury even worse.
"I think we 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."
"He needs to be able potentially [play] seven three-hour matches [as] simply getting on the court was not enough for him. We wanted to prevent him from causing further injury or making that injury worse."
Since Kyrgios previously stated that he he doesn't play to play any events right after the Australian Open, his comeback could happen at the Indian Wells Open, which starts at the beginning of March.
