Kyrgios withdraws from Australian Open, ending potential matchups with Rune and Djokovic

Nick Kyrgios is out of the Australian with a knee injury, he announced during an unscheduled press conference on Monday.

Already knowing he was less than 100 percent, Kyrgios played an exhibition match against Novak Djokovic last Friday night to test his knee. The 27-year-old Aussie did not emerge from that session with much confidence and there was little to no improvement during practices. Thus Kyrgios is out of both singles and doubles–he and countryman Thanasi Kokkinakis were the defending champions.

“Obviously this coming around is just bad timing,” the 2022 Wimbledon runner-up said. “But that’s life. Injury is a part of the sport. I guess I can draw some inspiration from someone like Thanasi, who has had a bunch of injuries and has bounced back. Look, I’m not doubting I will be back to my full strength and playing the tennis I was playing prior to this event.

“Yeah, 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. All I can do now is just look forward, do what I need to do and come back.”

Kyrgios had been on a collision course with Holger Rune for the third round, Andrey Rublev for the fourth round, and Djokovic for the quarterfinals. He has been replaced in the draw by lucky loser Denis Kudla, who will play against Roman Safiullin on Tuesday.