(Tennis news) 2022 Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios was forced to withdraw from the Australian Open due to a knee injury. It has been a 47 year long wait for Australia to witness one of their own win a Grand Slam in their own tournament and that wait is now prolonged despite participating in a charity match against Novak Djokovic last week. However, the 27 year old called an impromptu press conference on Monday, saying he was “devastated” to withdraw from the Australian Open due to a small tear in his lateral meniscus (knee).

“I’m devastated, obviously. It’s 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 favourites, it’s brutal. All I can do now is just look forward, do what I need to do and come back. He (Thanasi Kokkinakis) pushed me around the court a little bit. It was easier to make the call today. It doesn’t feel good. When I finish a session or finish a match, it’s just constant throbbing. I’ve barely had a good night’s sleep the last four, five nights.” – Nick Kyrgios said in the press conference

Kyrgios’ physiotherapist Will Maher said that the 27 year old has been carrying the injury for a few weeks and withdrawing from the Australian Open was the only sensible option as a cyst has developed at the tear in his lateral meniscus. The Australian tennis player was keen on participating in his home Grand Slam but a doubles match with Thanasi Kokkinakis on Monday convinced him to pull out. This means that Kyrgios and Kokkinakis will not be able to defend their doubles title at the Australian Open this time around.

“To Nick’s credit, he did try everything, to the point even last week he was having a procedure called a fenestration and drainage where they use a syringe to try and drain the cyst, which Nick has some pretty gruesome photos of. We used the charity event against Novak as a gauge to see if he could compete at that highest level. He didn’t pull up great, and he still tried to give himself every chance in the following days to have subsequent training. But it was clear that with each passing session that he was getting sorer and sorer.” – Physiotherapist Will Maher

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