Nick Kyrgios won’t play in the French Open, which starts Monday, but a knee injury apparently isn’t to blame, as was previously reported.
Instead, his agent told Reuters on Thursday that it’s a foot injury sustained during the course of a home-invasion robbery in Kyrgios’ native Australia that’s to blame.
Agent Daniel Horsfall said Kyrgios’ mother was held up at gunpoint on May 1, and during the “high-adrenaline rush of everything,” Kyrgios injured himself.
The player’s Tesla also was stolen. Police in Canberra, Australia, made an arrest in connection with the robbery after Kyrgios was able to track down his car using an app.
“With all the stuff that was going on, Nick lacerated the side of his left foot. We don’t know how,” Horsfall told Reuters, adding the injury probably cost the player about 2 1/2 weeks on the court.
The cut on Kyrgios’ foot is on the underside, near his small toe, which has made training tough.
“He couldn’t slide, couldn’t get on court because every time he put a shoe on it moved and it would re-open,” Horsfall said.
Kyrgios, 28, was hopeful of making his return at the Grand Slam event. He has yet to play in a tournament in 2023.
Kyrgios underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee four months ago with the initial timetable being that he would miss three to four weeks. Horsfall said the knee is in “fantastic” condition and that Kyrgios should be able to compete in grass-court tournaments.
The knee injury forced Kyrgios to miss the Australian Open.
Kyrgios, ranked 26th in the ATP rankings, has never won a Grand Slam title but reached the 2022 Wimbledon final, losing to Novak Djokovic in four sets.
He has won seven career singles crowns.
–Field Level Media