Photo: GLYN KIRK
Nick Kyrgios has withdrawn from next month's Australian Open for a second successive year due to ongoing injuries that kept him out of action for much of the 2023 season.
Australian crowd-puller Kyrgios pulled out of the Melbourne major this year and had surgery on his left knee. He was defeated in his comeback match following a five-month layoff, falling to China's Wu Yibing in the Stuttgart Open first round in June.
The 28-year-old then missed the French Open due to a foot injury suffered during the theft of his car, and he pulled out of Wimbledon with a wrist ligament problem that also forced him out of the U.S. Open.
"This is a very disappointing time for me, but I won't be able to compete at the 2024 Australian Open," Kyrgios said on the online platform OnlyFans, which he joined on Friday.
"Obviously, heartbreaking. I've had so many amazing memories there, and I just want to really get back to playing at the top of my game and doing it right, and I need a little more time.
"I was so close to winning a Grand Slam. I want to make sure that my body is going to have the time it needs to come back, so please bear with me."
Kyrgios' injury woes began after a stellar 2022 campaign in which he reached the Wimbledon final, won the Washington title and made the quarter-finals at Flushing Meadows.
He was a notable absentee from the Jan. 14-28 Australian Open's main draw released on Thursday in a blow to organisers, but is expected to be at the Grand Slam for TV commentary.
- Reuters