June 19, (THEWILL) – Nick Kyrgios, the Australian tennis player, will not be participating in the Halle Open in Germany, due to an ongoing knee injury.
Kyrgios has chosen to prioritise the upcoming Wimbledon tournament in July, aiming to surpass his runner-up performance in 2022, where he finished second to Novak Djokovic. After undergoing surgery on his left knee earlier this season, Kyrgios made his return to the court in Stuttgart last week but suffered a defeat against Yibing Wu with a score of 5-7 3-6. During the match, he expressed concerns about his knee, stating that he could “feel it at every point.”
Although the injury is believed to be minor, Kyrgios views it as a precautionary measure to safeguard his chances at Wimbledon. In an Instagram video message, he announced his withdrawal from the Halle Open: “I won’t be able to compete at Halle this year. I’m still dealing with a couple of things with my knee, just trying to give myself the best opportunity to compete at Wimbledon.
“As you all know, that tournament means a lot to me and I just want to do everything right by my body. I didn’t want to go out there and not give you the same performance I gave last year. Hopefully next year I’ll be healthy enough to play.”
In Kyrgios’ absence, lucky loser Aslan Karatsev replaced him in the first-round match against Lorenzo Sonego. Kyrgios, 28, reached the final of Wimbledon in 2022, impressively winning the first set against Djokovic before ultimately succumbing to a defeat with a score of 4-6 6-3 6-4 7-6. Carlos Alcaraz, the current world No. 1, has recently expressed his support for Kyrgios, anticipating a potential rematch with Djokovic this year for the prestigious title.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
