MELBOURNE, Australia — After spending the past week receiving all the laurels of a hometown favorite, Nick Kyrgios suddenly withdrew from the Australian Open on Monday with a knee injury, a little more than 24 hours ahead of his scheduled first-round match.
In an interview Friday, Kyrgios, the temperamental Australian star who was a finalist at Wimbledon last year, said he had been battling soreness in his left knee during the off-season, but he expected to be able to play in the year’s first Grand Slam.
Those hopes took a turn for the worse Friday after a charity match with Novak Djokovic.