It's another setback in Nick Kyrgios' projected return to tennis as the Australian star pulled out from next week's Cincinnati Masters in Mason, Ohio.
Kyrgios has endured an injury-riddled 2023 season which has seen him play one match all year. After a career-best year on Tour 12 months ago, which included a runner-up finish at Wimbledon, things have gone awry for the mercurial Aussie.
His injury problems stemmed in 2022 when he withdrew from his scheduled quarterfinal match in Tokyo. Kyrgios battled soreness on his left knee during the tournament and it became an apparent issue when it hampered his preparations for the new season.
The temperamental Kyrgios was forced to miss his home Slam - the 2023 Australian Open - less than 48 hours before his first match and underwent arthroscopic surgery to repair a small tear and remove a cyst in his lateral meniscus.
After undergoing successful surgery, Kyrgios suffered recurring setbacks unrelated to the knee, most notably the wrist injury he picked up before this year's Wimbledon. Kyrgios had actually played his only match of the season in Stuttgart - a tuneup 250 event before Wimbledon.
Since then, he's admitted that his wrist is nowhere near pain-free and his body had not been in perfect physical shape for competition. Having missed his title defense in Washington, Kyrgios dropped to 92nd in the ATP rankings this week.
The 28-year-old will exit the Top 100 for the first time since March 2022 at the conclusion of the Canadian Open. Although he doesn't defend too many points in Cincinnati, his decision to pull out from the Western & Southern Open throws his US Open participation in jeopardy.
If he intends to play the 2023 US Open, then Kyrgios will be going to the final Grand Slam of the season without any match sharpness whatsoever.
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