After expressing early on Sunday that he was ready to return to the Grand Slam after knee surgery, Nick Kyrgios announced later that day that he was withdrawing from Wimbledon due to a wrist injury.
The Wimbledon 2022 finalist made the announcement on Instagram.
“I’m really sad to say that I have to withdraw from Wimbledon this year,” Kyrgios wrote in an Instagram story. “I did my best to be ready after my operation and to be able to walk the Wimbledon courts again. On my return, I felt pain in my wrist during the Mallorca week. As a precaution, I took it had it scanned, and he came back showing a torn ligament in his wrist.”
Kyrgios made the 2022 Wimbledon final against Novak Djokovic. Djokovic won in four sets, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6. It was the deepest Grand Slam run of Kyrgios’ career and a breakthrough for a player known more for his outbursts than his play on the pitch.
Kyrgios has been sidelined with a knee injury that includes a torn meniscus for most of 2023. He missed both the Australian Open and the French Open. He called the decision to pull out of the Australian Open after an MRI revealed the injury “pretty brutal”.
“One of the most important tournaments of my career,” he said of The Open.
Kyrgios made his return to tennis on June 13 on the grass courts of the Stuttgart Open. He had planned to make his Grand Slam comeback at Wimbledon before news of his wrist injury ruled him out again. He was designated as the tournament’s No. 30 seed and was due to face Belgium’s David Goffin in the first round on Monday. Goffin’s new first-round opponent was not immediately clear Sunday night.
Kyrgios vowed in his statement to return.
“I tried everything to be able to play, and I’m disappointed to say that I just didn’t have enough time to get there before Wimbledon – I’ll be back.”
He did not include a prediction or timeline for his comeback. His next chance to play in a Grand Slam would come at the US Open, which begins on August 28.