Nick Kyrgios withdraws from Cincinnati. Will he miss US Open?

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• ATP Tennis

Former Cincinnati Masters finalist Nick Kyrgios will not compete at the seventh Masters 1000 event next week. World no. 92 has been dealing with a knee injury, undergoing surgery in January and playing one match this year. Nick has a couple of weeks to improve his physical shape ahead of the US Open, but the latest withdrawal gathers dark clouds over his preparation at the season's last Major.

Kyrgios returned to action in June in Stuttgart on his beloved grass, losing in the opening match and withdrawing from Halle, Wimbledon, Washington, Toronto and Cincinnati. Nick is 10-6 in Cincinnati since debuting in 2015.

The Aussie experienced five early losses on the fast hard court and almost went all the way in 2017. Nick toppled David Goffin, Alexandr Dolgopolov, Ivo Karlovic, Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer for a place in the title clash.

Kyrgios battled against Grigor Dimitrov and experienced a 6-3, 7-5 loss in an hour and 25 minutes, settling for the runner-up spot despite a solid effort.

Nick Kyrgios will not compete in Cincinnati next week.

Nick played well in the previous season, reaching his first Major final at Wimbledon and lifting the trophy in Washington a few weeks later.

He lost an epic US Open quarter-final to Daniil Medvedev and finished the season after Tokyo due to knee issues. Nick withdrew from the Australian Open this January and underwent surgery. However, the Aussie is still far from his best, playing one match in 2023 and prolonging his comeback.

Kyrgios faced Yibing Wu in the Stuttgart first round and fell 7-5, 6-3, struggling with his movement and relying primarily on his serve. Yibing defended both break points and grabbed two return games from three chances to emerge at the top in style.

Kyrgios had his chances in the opening set, serving well until the closing stages and creating a break point in games one and 11 that could have sent him in front. Wu defended them and grabbed a late break right before the tie break for a massive boost.

Nick served to stay in the set in game 12 and hit a double fault to experience two set points. Yibing seized the second with a backhand down the line winner at the net that propelled him 7-5 in front. Both players served well early in the second set and reached 3-3 in no time.

Kyrgios came from 40-15 down to deuce on the return in game seven before Wu held with two winners. The Aussie could not find free points in the eighth game, and the Chinese seized the first break point with a return winner to open a 5-3 advantage.

Yibing served for the victory in the ninth game and sealed the deal at love with an ace to earn his first ATP victory on grass.