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Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios, world No. 10 Matteo Berrettini and former world No. 6 Gael Monfils have all withdrawn from the upcoming Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. Kyrgios, a former world No. 13, won't be making his second appearance on the hard courts of Dubai this year.
Kyrgios, now ranked at No. 49 in the world, made his lone Dubai appearance in 2016, when he made the semifinal before he was forced to retire his semifinal clash against three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka. Italian tennis star Berrettini also won't be making his second appearance in Dubai this year.
The Italian debuted at the Dubai event in 2019, when he suffered a shock first round loss to Denis Kudla. Meanwhile, 34-year-old Monfils won't be making his fifth appearance in Dubai this year. Monfils, who debuted at the Dubai event in 2008, has had success at the tournament but he has yet to win it all.
Monfils enjoyed strong runs in his last two Dubai campaigns as he made back-to-back semifinals at the tournament in 2019 and 2020.
Kyrgios still not returning to competitive action
After suffering a tight five-set loss to Austrian Dominic Thiem in the Australian Open third round, Kyrgios admitted he was a bit unsure about his upcoming schedule.
Kyrgios previously pulled out of this week's ATP event in Doha. "I can change like the wind. I'm not too sure, depending on what happens with COVID in Australia, you know, I'm assuming we will probably settle it pretty quickly.
But I don't know how I'll have to quarantine in overseas in tournaments," Kyrgios said after the Thiem loss. "For me personally, man, I'm used to playing in front of packed stadiumds. I'm not gonna force myself around the world when the time is not right where I have to quarantine for a week and then play. I don't know, I'm not too sure what lies ahead."
