French Open: Nick Kyrgios pulls out on eve of tournament

Australia’s Nick Kyrgios has rocked French Open organisers with a stunning announcement on the eve of the tournament.

Nick Kyrgios has pulled out of the French Open. Picture: Getty

Australian Nick Kyrgios was forced to withdraw from the French Open on Sunday after failing to recover from an elbow injury, saying a potential five sets on clay was “too risky”.

The 23-year-old was seeded 21st at Roland Garros and was due to play compatriot Bernard Tomic in the first round.

The enigmatic Kyrgios has not played a singles match since a quarter-final loss to Ivo Karlovic at the US Clay Court Championships in April.

“Having consulted with my team and medical experts it is deemed too risky for me to step out and potentially play five sets on clay, especially as I have not played a singles match in nearly two months,” Kyrgios wrote on Twitter.

😢😩😢😩 Sorry guys, I tried everything I could to be ready for @rolandgarros but I came up short. I’ll be back though. ❤️🙏🏽 pic.twitter.com/jZ7OQpm28H

— Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) May 27, 2018

“I’ve worked hard to be ready in time and desperately wanted to play Roland Garros, which is very special to me but I literally ran out of time.

“A dramatic spike in load on my elbow could potentially put me back to square one and with the grass court season around the corner it is something I can not and will not risk.”

On Saturday, the world number 23 had claimed a doubles title in Lyon playing alongside American Jack Sock.

Kyrgios’ withdrawal means that there will be eight lucky losers in the men’s draw after Egyptian Mohamed Safwat was a last-minute replacement for Viktor Troicki earlier on Sunday, losing to fourth seed Grigor Dimitrov.

Early Aussie casualty

Elsewhere, Ajla Tomljanovic’s emotions have boiled over in a rueful first-round loss in Paris.

Flying the Australian flag on day one, Tomljanovic obliterated her racquet after blowing a big first-set lead in a 7-5 6-3 defeat at the hands of Ukrainian fourth seed Elina Svitolina.

Enjoying her highest ranking since returning from a shoulder reconstruction that wiped 13 months off her career, Tomljanovic threatened a huge upset after surging to 5-1 in the first set on Court Suzanne Lenglen.

But the 25-year-old instead faces sanctioning for her outburst after surrendering six straight games and the opening set.

A finalist last month in Rabat, Tomljanovic has rebuilt her ranking to 68th in the world after falling outside the top 100 during her long lay-off in 2016/17. She still wasn’t expected to challenge Svitolina, who arrived in Paris as one of the championship favourites after hammering world No.1 Simona Halep for the loss of only four games in last week’s Italian Open final.

But the fourth seed looked a shadow of the player boasting three titles in 2018 as she racked up the unforced errors in losing five of the first six games. Svitolina turned the match around, though, as Tomljanovic tightened while serving for the opening set at 5-2.

Tomljanovic double-faulted on her only set point and, despite saving five break points, was left to lament the let-off as she dropped serve to allow Svitolina back in it.

It was the only invitation the world No.4 needed, Svitolina reeling off six straight games to snatch the set to leave Tomljanovic steaming. The Australian quickly fell behind 2-0 in the second set after receiving her code violation before briefly threatening a fightback after levelling the set up again.

But Svitolina’s class eventually prevailed as the Ukraine grabbed a fifth service break to clinch victory after one hour and 29 minutes. “It’s tough losing to a top seed when you’re in position to potentially win the set and then you never know what can happen,” Tomljanovic said. “But physically I wasn’t great going into the match. I was really quite sick last week.

“So I was actually pretty happy with the way I fought because I could have rolled over after the fifth game.

“So it’s kind of unfortunate. It’s kind of bittersweet because I’m glad that I provided a decent level at times, but losing is never fun.”

AFP/AAP