"When your body lets you down, it's not a good feeling" - Kyrgios on Tokyo withdrawal

Saturday, 08 October 2022 at 04:00

Updated at Wednesday, 05 February 2025 at 15:01

byErik Virostko

Nick Kyrgios was sad after having to withdraw from his quarter-final match at the 2022 Japan Open in Tokyo.

Kyrgios had to withdraw from his quarter-final match at the ATP 500 event in Tokyo due to a knee injury. The 27-year-old Australian won in three sets against Kamil Majchrzak on Thursday before partnering with Thanasi Kokkinakis to win in doubles as well.

However, this year's Wimbledon finalist wasn't able to take on Taylor Fritz in the quarter-finals. Despite being forced to withdraw from the tournament, Kyrgios still went to greet the crowd, which is unusual but something the Australian player has done a few times before.

After announcing his withdrawal, Kyrgios also talked to the press in Tokyo. He was disappointed about having to withdraw, especially since he had good memories from Tokyo.

"It's obviously very disappointing. It's one of my favourite tournaments. I've had great memories here... It's heartbreaking, but I'll be here next year. That's for sure."

"I've been playing amazing tennis all year and actually was dealing with a bit of a knee issue around the US Open time. I got back home and probably didn't take enough time off, to be honest. I went straight back into training."

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Kyrgios felt like he could have won the tournament in both singles and doubles. That made the decision to withdraw even harder for him.

"The Japanese fans are some of my favourite to play in front of. It's been such an amazing week. Obviously playing four matches and winning all four, I've been feeling great. I definitely felt like I was a threat to win the tournament and go all the way in singles and doubles."

"When your body lets you down, it's not a good feeling. I know in this case it's probably overloading rather than not being fit enough. I think t's almost being too excited to get on the court and maybe training a little bit too much. So it's positive, but heartbreaking at the same time."