Nick Kyrgios’ preparations for the US Open has suffered another setback after he withdrew from the Citi Open in Washington due to a shoulder injury.
The Australian was playing Tennys Sandgren in the second round of the tournament and opted to call it quits while trailing 6-3, 3-0, in the match. Throughout the match the Australian was seen glaring towards the players box, indicating that he wanted to retire. At one point the camera caught him saying to his mum in the crowd ‘I don’t want to play.’
Nick Kyrgios: “I don’t wanna play.”
Say goodnight & go. pic.twitter.com/1EM3asmjD4
— TroubleFault (@troublefault) 3 August 2017
Kyrgios eventually called it a day halfway through the second set after seeing a trainer. As he walked off the court, he was greeted with a series of boos from the crowd. Many questioned if the Australian was giving his best effort in the match.
The setback comes after Kyrgios returned to the tour from a hip injury, which forced him to withdraw from Wimbledon. Following the match he insisted that his hip was better, but his injury struggles continue.
“My shoulder kind of just came on today, I hadn’t been feeling it,” Kyrgios told The Washington Post. “And my hip has been fine. I’ve been very cautious with it, I haven’t been training enough, at all, to play a tournament like this so. I just wanted to see how it goes, but obviously I’m far from ready. … I just hadn’t hit enough balls. I don’t know, obviously the match intensity is different in practice but my shoulder’s a little bit sore. Obviously with the U.S. swing coming up I don’t think it’s really worth playing through here and jeopardizing my U.S. Open.”
Concerns about Kyrgios’ mentality are also mounting. Appearing visibly downbeat in the match, he later admitted that he was ‘struggling, mentally, physically.’ When asked to pinpoint the problems, he said that he is troubled by ‘off-court issues’ without elaborating further.
26-year-old Sandgren will next play fifth seed Alexander Zverev. The German narrowly avoided a scare with a hard-fought 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(5), win over Jordan Thompson.
“I’m just happy to be through and happy to get the win,” Zverev commented on his win.
Johnson’s frosty exit
Steve Johnson was far from happy following his loss to rising star Daniil Medvedev. The 14th seed was leading the match by a set and 4-2, before crashing out 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(1), to the Russian. At the end of the match Johnson wasn’t afraid to express his anger.
Steve said “Dont fucking apologize, don’t do it, be better than that…. fucking asshole”
— Ram (@RamKotna) 3 August 2017
It is alleged that Medvedev took a questionable injury time out, which enabled him extra time to rest and recover in the match. An allegation that neither player have commented on following the match.
Medvedev will next play Grigor Dimitrov, who came through his match without any controversy. Facing recent Atlanta semifinalist Kyle Edmund, the Bulgarian battled to a 7-5, 4-6, 6-3, win.
Finally, Gael Monfils became the highest seeded casualty of the tournament so far. The Frenchman crashed out to Yuki Bhambri of India 6-3, 4-6, 7-5.
