Australian Open 2020: Alex de Minaur withdraws due to injury
A devastated Nick Kyrgios has expressed his heartbreak for close mate Alex de Minaur who was forced to withdraw from his home grand slam.
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Nick Kyrgios is devastated for Alex de Minaur after the nation’s top-ranked male player was forced out of the Australian Open with an abdominal injury.
“It’s heartbreaking, to be honest,” Kyrgios said after world No.21 de Minaur withdrew from Monday’s grand slam.
“It’s tough news.
“Hopefully, fingers crossed it’s nothing too serious and he can recover as soon as possible.
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Unfortunately Australian No.1 @alexdeminaur has withdrawn from #AusOpen 2020 with an abdominal injury. pic.twitter.com/R6p8TGbkOc
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 16, 2020
“I had a feeling he was going to do some big things at the Australian Open.
“The way he was playing against Rafa (Nadal in the ATP Cup), he was amazing.
“I can’t imagine what he’s going through right now, missing his home grand slam.
“He’s a great kid and I know how much work he’s put in the last four months for this event.”
Kyrgios will be Australia’s top-ranked man in singles contention and will be seeded 25th ahead of Thursday night’s draw.
Despite an irresistible 6-4 6-2 win over Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, Kyrgios downplayed his hopes next week.
“I’m not thinking about it too much, result-wise,” he said.
“I just want to go out there and bring a positive vibe to the whole thing.
“That’s really it.
“The body is fine. For me personally it’s been an emotional couple of weeks.
“The Oz Open is around the corner but, for me, my focus has been elsewhere.
“I’m excited, I want to get out there again. Oz Open, I’m not gonna take that for granted.”
De Minaur is shattered to miss the Australian Open after failing to overcome a muscle tear after a frenetic start to the season in the ATP Cup, where he played five consecutive three-set matches (four singles and a doubles) as Australia reached the semis.
The slightly-built baseliner downed world No.7 Alexander Zverev and No.15 Denis Shapovalov before losing to Dan Evans and reigning French and US Open champion Rafael Nadal in brutal encounters.
He also shared in epic doubles win with Kyrgios over Jamie Murray and Joe Salisbury.
The combined demands of those matches forced de Minaur out of the Adelaide International.
Since transferring to Melbourne, the right-hander underwent constant therapy but, ultimately, was not fit enough to contest best-of-five set matches.
Originally published as Australian Open 2020: Alex de Minaur withdraws due to injury