A left-knee problem has forced Australia’s Nick Kyrgios to quit the Atlanta Open early. The 27-year-old was initially scheduled to take on Peter Gojowczyk from Germany in his singles draw of the ATP 250 hardcourt event in Georgia.
“First of all, I just want to say I’m extremely shattered that I’m not able to compete tonight,” he said. “I’ve won this tournament once and I’m playing probably some of the best tennis of my career. All I wanted to do was come out here and give you guys a show, but I’m unable to give my best performance today.”
The injury put Kyrgios away from another opportunity to win a title in singles this year. In the Wimbledon final, he lost to Novak Djokovic, who secured his seventh title. Back in 2016, Kyrgios won the Atlanta Open after beating John Isner in two straight sets final.
The year 2016 was one of the best eras in Kyrgios’ career. Apart from the Atlanta Open, he won another two tournaments that year—the Open 13 in France and Japan Open, beating Marin Cilic and David Goffin respectively. In 2017, he lost the Masters 1000 event, Cincinnati Masters, and the ATP 500 China Open.
Kyrgios then won three consecutive finals from 2018 to 2019—an ATP 250 series event, Brisbane International in 2018, and two ATP 500, the Mexican and Washington Open.
Doubles redemption
Despite announcing his withdrawal from the singles, Kyrgios still has hopes for a double performance alongside his compatriot, Thanasi Kokkinakis.
“I’ve won this tournament once and I’m playing probably some of the best tennis of my career. All I wanted to do was come out here and give you guys a show, but I’m unable to give my best performance today,” he said.
“I’m just extremely sorry, but I’m going to keep my hopes up and may be able to continue doubles with Thanasi this week.”
The pair is on the track to winning another title this year. After winning the Australian Open doubles, they progressed to the last eight in Atlanta. However, for Kyrgios, that was not his first title in doubles. Back in 2018, he won a 250 series Lyon Open thanks to his partnership with American player Jack Sock.
Kyrgios was handed a wildcard for the Masters 1000 event, Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati next week. Two weeks later, the U.S Open will kick off in New York.
Earlier this year, Kyrgios expressed his disappointment with media coverage of his career. He said that he had been targeted due to his rather disappointing career. Following his victory against Filip Krajinovic in the second round of Wimbledon, he slammed the media in a press conference.
“I’m just really sick of the media right now,” he said. “They’re just nitpicking all of my matches. So today was about just being locked in. I joked with them just then ‘I love that you’ve got nothing to write about today. I just feel like people just don’t give me the respect sometimes because of other things that I do.”