Tennis: He’s out – devastated Kyrgios bows to knee injury and withdraws from Australian Open

Nick Kyrgios has withdrawn from the Australian Open after Thanasi Kokkinakis hit him off the court, and out of the tournament, in a training session on Monday.

A downcast Nick Kyrgios at his news conference on Monday to announce his withdrawal from the Australian Open. Picture: David Caird

Nick Kyrgios’s reaction to withdrawing from the Australian Open?

“That’s life,” he said.

But he was devastated. His head was bowed. His voice was low and flat. His shoulders were hunched. He appeared exhausted and drained at Melbourne Park after hobbling away from a practice session with his best mate, Thanasi Kokkinakis, that killed off his tournament.

Australian Open organisers’ reaction to Kyrgios’s withdrawal, stripping another drawcard from a tournament already missing Roger Federer, Ash Barty, Serena and Venus Williams, Carlos Alcaraz, Naomi Osaka, Dominic Thiem, Karolina Pliskova and Stan Wawrinka to name a few? Probably unpublishable.

Casting a further pall over the tournament, nine-time Open champion Novak Djokovic, who has been carrying a hamstring ­injury cancelled his training session on Monday night.

The last thing the Open could afford was to lose Rafael Nadal as well but the great Spaniard came through a tough match on Monday to beat Englishman Jack Draper 7-5 2-6 6-4 6-1. Nadal is so popular in his 18th and likely last Open that he received a deafening ovation for merely removing his tracksuit top before the warm-up. He ran Draper so ragged that his 21-year-old foe cramped and could barely run in the final games.

Nick Kyrgios withdraws from the Australian Open due to a knee injury - a devastating blow to hopes for a homegrown champion.

It would have been a disaster for the tournament if Nadal followed Kyrgios out the door. “C’arn, Rafa!” was a constant refrain from the 15,000-strong audience inside Rod Laver Arena. You wouldn’t have blamed Open boss Craig Tiley for joining in.

Kyrgios left it as late as possible before making the final decision to pull out on Monday afternoon.

“I hit with Thanasi, someone who’s playing the way he’s playing, and he pushed me around the court a little bit,” Kyrgios said after announcing he was out of the singles and would not be ­defending the doubles title with Kokkinakis due to a knee injury.

“I’ve worked so hard, put ­myself in the position to be – you know, I was ranked outside the top 100 a year ago. Now I’ve had the year I had last year, and back inside the top 20, being seeded at a grand slam, feeling as good as I’m feeling and playing the way I’m feeling. I wanted to give myself a chance. I had some hope but after today … a hit of the intensity that was coming … it was easier to make the call.”

Kyrgios was due to play Russia’s Roman Safiullin on Tuesday evening. He’s front and centre on billboards and posters all over Melbourne. He was a legitimate contender for the Open but question marks hung over his fitness following withdrawals from the United Cup and Adelaide International. He passed his first fitness test, the lighthearted Arena Extravaganza with Djokovic last Friday night, but failed against Kokkinakis.

The exact nature of the injury? “There’s a parameniscal cyst growing in his left meniscus,” physiotherapist Will Maher said. “Which is the result of a small tear in his lateral meniscus.”

Who made the call? “It was mainly driven by me,” Kyrgios said. “Players have no idea what I deal with, that’s for sure.

“Obviously I’m extremely disappointed. I’m just exhausted from everything and obviously it’s pretty brutal.

“One of the most important tournaments of my ­career. It hasn’t been easy at all.”

Maher said: “It’s not a significant injury in the sense that it’s going to be career-threatening or anything like that … Nick has some pretty gruesome photos of. I’m sure he’ll probably share them later.”

Kyrgios is likely to return for the Indian Wells Masters in California in March. “It always goes back to the last grand slam I played. The US Open. I was extremely hard on myself after that loss in the ­quarter-finals. Obviously thinking that I could win it.

“The Oz Open was in the back of my mind from that day forth … This coming around is just bad timing … that’s life.”