Injured Kyrgios told ‘don’t come back’

Kyrgios, who reached the Wimbledon remaining towards Novak Djokovic final yr in a career-best grand slam end result, was pressured to withdraw from the 2023 version the day earlier than his first spherical match towards Belgian David Goffin, citing a wrist damage.

“I’m really sad to say that I have to withdraw from Wimbledon this year,” Kyrgios wrote to his followers on Instagram.

“During my comeback, I experienced some pain in my wrist during Mallorca. As a precaution I had it scanned and it came back showing a torn ligament in my wrist.

“I tired everything to be able to play and I am disappointed to say that I just didn’t have enough time to manage it before Wimbledon.

“I’ll be back and as always, I appreciate the support from all my fans.”

Kyrgios’ place within the draw was taken by “lucky loser” Fabian Marozsan.

His choice to withdraw at such a late stage has drawn vocal criticism from some quarters.

“Those that say Nick Kyrgios is good for tennis are wrong,” widespread commentator Chris Goldsmith, aka The Tennis Talker, wrote on social media.

“No integrity whatsoever. Pulls out of singles and doubles a few hours before the tournament. Another ALT into Qualifying missed a place, all because he likes to mess about.

“Don’t come back to SW19.”

SW19 is the postcode of the Wimbledon space and is usually used to seek advice from the match.

“If you think it’s only Kyrgios I have a go at for pulling out of tournaments late then you obviously don’t follow my tweets. Its something I feel strongly about,” Goldsmith clarified in a subsequent put up.

Goffin in the end beat Kyrgios’ substitute 6-2 5-7 6-2 6-0. In his post-match interview, he was requested how he discovered about Kyrgios’ withdrawal.

“It was not easy – I was in my bed,” Goffin stated.

“It was funny, because I was preparing for that match on Court 1, big court. And everybody was like, ‘Against whom do you play?’ I was like, ‘Against Nick.’ And, ‘Ooh, big match.’ So the last three days I was preparing for a big battle.

“All of a sudden, yesterday in my bed, I received a text message saying Nick withdrew from the tournament. So, we don’t know yet against whom you’re going to play, but tomorrow you will have an opponent. OK?

“So it was an original situation for the beginning of this tournament.”

Kyrgios fell to Djokovic in 4 units in final yr’s remaining, dropping 4-6 6-3 6-4 7-6. The mercurial Aussie star had a whole nation behind him as he made the dream run into his first ever grand slam remaining.

Those hopes since his Wimbledon heroics have been on the backburner, with Kyrgios barely being sighted as a consequence of a horror damage run.

He returned to the courtroom for the primary time since October 2022 when he took to the grass in Stuttgart.

After seven months out with a knee damage, the 2022 Wimbledon finalist was overwhelmed 7-5 6-3 by China’s Yibing Wu within the first spherical, the match lasting simply 68 minutes.

Struggling with mobility and struggling ache, Kyrgios served nicely however gave little in chases and hung out holding his knee and seemed troubled by the top of the sport.

In the aftermath he took to Twitter asking for endurance as he makes his journey again to full health.

“Be patient with me my fans please,” Kyrgios tweeted after Tuesday‘s match.

“It’s a process to get back to where I was. I know it’s hard for you to see me perform like today, but I need more time and hopefully can get back to where I was.”

Alex de Minaur is Australia’s high seeded participant at Wimbledon, however has a tricky draw.

He will play qualifier Kimmer Coppejans within the first spherical, however may face towards Alexander Zverev within the third spherical and high seed Carlos Alcaraz within the spherical of 16.

De Minaur has been in nice type on grass however after dropping to Alcaraz within the Queens’ Club remaining, it’s onerous to see an Aussie making the second week at Wimbledon.