Nick Kyrgios, who reached the men's singles final at last year's Wimbledon Championships, has withdrawn from the grass-court Grand Slam this year due to a wrist injury. The 28-year-old Australian lost to Novak Djokovic in the 2022 Wimbledon final, before reaching the quarterfinals at the US Open.
He was seeded 30th in the men's bracket and was scheduled to face David Goffin on Monday. Kyrgios will be replaced in the field by a player who lost during qualifying.
Kyrgios return cut short
He was away from the court for nearly six months after undergoing knee surgery in January, and lost to China's Wu Yibing in the first match of his comeback at the Stuttgart Open last month.
"I'm really sad to say that I have to withdraw from Wimbledon this year," Kyrgios wrote on social media. "I tried my hardest to be ready after my surgery and to be able to step on the Wimbledon courts again. During my comeback, I experienced some pain in my wrist during (preparations for the) Mallorca (Open)."
"As a precaution I had it scanned and it came back showing a torn ligament in my wrist. I tried 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," said Kyrgios, who had been slated to play against Belgium's David Goffin in the first round.
"I'll be back, and as always, I appreciate the support from all my fans," he said.
Prior to his withdrawal on Sunday, Kyrgios was questioned during a pre-tournament press conference about the condition of his body and his preparedness for the demanding best-of-five-set format at a Grand Slam event.
“I still think there’s some question marks, for sure,” he replied.
“I look at my preparations last year coming in — I probably had the most ideal preparation possible,” Kyrgios said. “It couldn’t be any (more) different this year.”
This year's Wimbledon Championships open on Monday, as 23-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic begins his title defence with an opening round match against Argentina's Pedro Cachin.
