Nick Kyrgios Makes Decision on Playing in 2023 French Open

The Australian tennis player has yet to make his season debut due to a knee injury.

Nick Kyrgios will miss his second Grand Slam tournament of the season as he decided to pull out of the 2023 French Open less than a week before the event gets underway.

Kyrgios didn’t play in his home country’s Australian Open in January after he suffered a knee injury, which later resulted in him undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his left knee. He was originally expected to only miss around three-to-four weeks, but he still hasn’t returned to action nearly four months after the procedure.

It’s unknown when the 28-year-old expects to return to the court. His manager, Daniel Horsfall, told the Sydney Morning Herald that they were “trying everything we can to have Nick ready on court as soon as possible.”

Kyrgios had quite the season last year as he played in the Wimbledon final, losing to Novak Djokovic in four sets, before reaching the U.S. Open quarterfinals a few months later. He also ended a three-year winning drought when he captured the Citi Open title in August. 

He last played a professional tournament in October 2022 at the Japan Open. 

The Australian superstar has also dealt with a handful of off-the-court issues throughout his career, including a court case earlier this year in which he pleaded guilty to pushing a former girlfriend during an argument in 2021 but was not convicted. Kyrgios’s mental health, something he’s openly struggled with, was cited as one of the reasons for the lack of a conviction.

The French Open starts on Sunday, May 28 and runs through Sunday, June 11.