Top 20 players Nick Kyrgios and Marin Cilic has withdrawn from their tournaments next week due to injury and fatigue.
World No.14 Kyrgios was set to play at the Rotterdam Open, an ATP 500 event. He has withdrawn due to a right elbow injury that he recently picked up during Australia’s Davis Cup tie. He lacked intensity in his shot-making as he lost in straight sets to Alexander Zverev, who guided Germany to the win over Australia.
“I felt it the day after I played my first match (of the Davis Cup). I didn’t really think too much of it. I’m going to take a week off now to try and get it better.” Kyrgios said about his injury earlier in the week.
The 22-year-old has made no public comment about his Rotterdam absence and it is unclear as to how severe the injury is. Last year Kyrgios was troubled by physical problems and was forced to end his season early due to a persistent hip injury.
Despite Kyrgios’ absence, the field for the Rotterdam Open remains one of the strongest ever. Top 10 players Roger Federer, Zverev, David Goffin and Grigor Dimitrov have all confirmed their attendance. Eighth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is the defending champion.
Cilic out of Buenos Aires
Joining Kyrgios on the sidelines will be Australian Open finalist Marin Cilic. The Croat was set to be the top seed at the Argentinian Open, in what would have been his debut at the event. In a statement, Cilic said his withdrawal was because he wanted to ‘recover fully’ after his start to the year.
“Due to the intensity of the last few weeks , my team and I have made the decision to retire from the Argentina Open to recover properly . This has been a difficult decision since I was really looking forward to returning to Buenos Aires and playing the tournament for the first time.” Said Cilic.
“I hope to play soon against the Argentine fans ! I want to thank the organizers of the tournament for their understanding and, above all, the fans who expected to see me play in Buenos Aires.”
Cilic’s next tournament is set to be the Rio Open in Brazil. The event will get underway a week on Monday.
Played on the clay at the Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club, this year’s event will be headlined by Dominic Thiem. Who won the title back in 2016.
