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Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios has been told not to return to Wimbledon in the wake of his last-minute withdrawal from the tournament.
Kyrgios, who reached the Wimbledon final against Novak Djokovic last year in a career-best grand slam result, was forced to withdraw from the 2023 edition the day before his first round match against Belgian David Goffin, citing a wrist injury.
“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 in the draw was taken by “lucky loser” Fabian Marozsan.
His decision 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,” popular 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 area and is often used to refer to the tournament.
“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 post.
Goffin ultimately beat Kyrgios’ replacement 6-2 5-7 6-2 6-0. In his post-match interview, he was asked how he found out about Kyrgios’ withdrawal.
“It was not easy – I was in my bed,” Goffin said.
“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 four sets in last year’s final, losing 4-6 6-3 6-4 7-6. The mercurial Aussie star had an entire nation behind him as he made the dream run into his first ever grand slam final.
Those hopes since his Wimbledon heroics have been on the backburner, with Kyrgios barely being sighted due to a horror injury run.
He returned to the court for the first time since October 2022 when he took to the grass in Stuttgart.
After seven months out with a knee injury, the 2022 Wimbledon finalist was beaten 7-5 6-3 by China’s Yibing Wu in the first round, the match lasting just 68 minutes.
Struggling with mobility and suffering pain, Kyrgios served well but gave little in chases and spent time holding his knee and looked troubled by the end of the game.
In the aftermath he took to Twitter asking for patience as he makes his journey back to full fitness.
“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 top seeded player at Wimbledon, but has a tough draw.
He will play qualifier Kimmer Coppejans in the first round, but could face against Alexander Zverev in the third round and top seed Carlos Alcaraz in the round of 16.
De Minaur has been in great form on grass but after losing to Alcaraz in the Queens’ Club final, it’s hard to see an Aussie making the second week at Wimbledon.
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