tennis
Kyrgios cancels Wimbledon start: “Not enough time”
Nick Kyrgios from Australia during pre-training. photo
© John Walton/PA Wire/dpa
For the eccentric Australian Nick Kyrgios, Wimbledon is over before the start. On Sunday afternoon he still spoke about looking forward to the start on Monday.
Shortly before his opening match at the Grand Slam tournament in Last year’s Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios canceled his start at the classic lawn. “I did my best to be ready after my surgery and step onto the Wimbledon courts,” the Australian wrote on his social media pages. On his comeback, however, he felt pain in his wrist, and the injury turned out to be a torn ligament.
“I tried everything to be able to play and I’m disappointed to say I just didn’t have enough time to make it to Wimbledon.” On Monday he should have met Belgian David Goffin. It is not yet clear who will replace him.
The organizers reacted with regret to the cancellation of the dazzling star. The 28-year-old is wished “a speedy recovery” and hopes to see him back on the grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club next year, organizers said in a Twitter message.
Last year, Kyrgios surprisingly reached the final at Wimbledon, where he only lost to Novak Djokovic in four sets after a hard fight. After that, the Australian, known for his emotional failures on the tennis court, was stopped by knee problems and had to pause for almost nine months.
The Australian Open and the French Open took place without Kyrgios. He only celebrated his comeback in Stuttgart in mid-June, but lost in the first round. He then canceled his participation in Halle in Westphalia and also withdrew from Mallorca shortly before the start of the tournament.