By Marc McGowan
Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios is at risk of a grand slam wipeout this year as his injury woes continue to sideline him ahead of this month’s US Open.
Kyrgios will drop outside the top 100 in the ATP rankings after his latest withdrawals from this week’s Washington Open – where he won last year and in 2019 – and next week’s Masters 1000 event in Toronto.
Nick Kyrgios, pictured celebrating his Washington title last year, is still recovering from a knee injury.Credit: AP
The 500 points he scored for capturing the 2022 Washington title will drop off his rolling 12-month tally on Monday, resulting in his ranking plummeting from No. 35 to somewhere in the 90s.
Another 180 points will come off after the Canadian tournament, costing him his top-100 ranking for the first time since March last year.
Kyrgios is yet to withdraw from the Cincinnati Masters, which start on August 13, and the US Open, beginning at the end of this month, but there is every chance he will in the days and weeks ahead. He has a top-40 entry ranking for both, meaning any looming impact on his ranking tumble will be felt after the year’s final grand slam.
Kyrgios’ most recent grand slam appearance was at last year’s US Open, where he blazed his way to the quarter-finals before Russia’s Karen Khachanov eliminated him.
He was particularly disappointed to pull out of the Australian Open, believing he was a title contender based on his run to the Wimbledon final six months earlier. Kyrgios’ physiotherapist, Will Maher, attended the media conference where the Canberran revealed he was out of the Melbourne Park slam.
Nick Kyrgios underwent knee surgery in January.Credit: Instagram
“There’s a parameniscal cyst growing in his left meniscus, which is the result of a small tear in his lateral meniscus,” Maher said at the time.
“To Nick’s credit, he did try everything, to the point even last week he was having a procedure called a fenestration and drainage, where they use a syringe to try and drain the cyst, which Nick has some pretty gruesome photos of.
“We used the charity event against Novak [Djokovic] as a gauge to see if he could compete at that highest level. He didn’t pull up great. We’ve made the sensible decision to withdraw him.”
Kyrgios confirmed on social media this week that he had a protected ranking of No. 21 from not playing between October last year and June this season, while recovering from his knee injury and subsequent surgery in mid-January.
The 28-year-old former world No.13 has not played again since his short-lived return in Stuttgart. He complained of knee soreness during his first-round exit there, before withdrawing weeks later from Wimbledon with a wrist injury.
Kyrgios is confident his box-office appeal means tournament directors across the globe would give him a wildcard into any event he wanted to play in once he is injury free, assuming he needs one.
He unleashed the best stretch of tennis in his career last year after his ranking went into freefall, and would have returned to the top 15 if not for the ATP’s decision to strip Wimbledon of ranking points, in reaction to the All England Club’s banning of Russian and Belarusian players.
Kyrgios put together an impressive 37-10 record in 2022, including making the quarter-finals or better at nine of the 13 tournaments he contested.