Nick Kyrgios’ US Open preparations have taken a major blow as he pulled out of the Atlanta Open due to a knee injury.
Kyrgios, who entered the Atlanta Open as the seventh seed, was due to play Peter Gojowczyk in the round of 32, but the German will now play lucky loser Adrian Mannarino.
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The Aussie fronted the fans to explain his injury situation, but still held out hope that his knee would be good to go in time for his quarterfinal doubles match alongside fellow countryman Thanasi Kokkinakis.
“First of all, I just want to say I’m extremely shattered that I’m not able to compete tonight,” Kyrgios said.
“I’ve won this tournament once and I’ve played probably some of the best tennis of my career. All I wanted to do was come out here and give you guys a show, obviously just see what I’m capable of.
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“But I’m unable to give out my best performance today and I’m just extremely sorry. But I’m going to keep my hopes up and maybe be able to continue doubles with Thanasi this week.
“I hope you all won’t be too hard on me, I was going to come out here and see you guys face-to-face to tell you that I love you guys and hopefully next year in singles I’ll be able to compete and give it my all.”
Kyrgios and Kokkinakis, who won the Australian Open mens’ doubles earlier this year, entered the tournament as the No. 2 seeds and beat French pair Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin 7-6, 6-3 to progress to the quarterfinals.
The singles withdrawal from Kyrgios also now means he is all but certain to drop out of the top 60 of the ATP rankings and would enter the US Open as an unseeded contender.
Kyrgios would have catapulted into the top 20 thanks to his run to the Wimbledon final, but the rankings points for that tournament did not count.
While the Canberran may have exited the Atlanta Open sooner than he would have liked, two Australian men remain in the singles field as Alex de Minaur and John Millman are through to the round of 16.
De Minaur, the No. 3 seed, received a bye for his first game while Millman beat fellow Aussie Alexei Popyrin 7-6, 4-6, 6-3.
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