All pain, no gain as Kyrgios ponders his options

Nick Kyrgios on Thursday refused to cash in his tennis career, with the injury-prone Australian determined to try and overcome the lingering right wrist injury which forced him to quit in the Indian Wells, first round.

The unranked former Wimbledon finalist had to give up in pain as he handed Dutch qualifying lucky loser Botik van de Zandschulp a 7-6 (7), 3-0 trip into the second round at the Masters 1000 in California.

Kyrgkios said that an injury setback two days ago during training set the stage for his untimely retirement.

 “I felt like it was okay to take the court, but (the pain) got progressively worse.. I started feeling sharp pain in my wrist.”

After playing only his second match of the season and his fourth since the start of 2023, the 29-year-old is understandably frustrated with his series of setbacks.

“It’s just the amount of work I put in and I’m still having so much discomfort in my wrist. That’s why I got a bit emotional towards the end because it’s one of my favorite tournaments. 

“After the Australian Open I wasn’t sure what I was going to play next, but this
was always probably going to be one of the tournaments I was going to play.

“I was two days out of the tournament here and I was having a great training session, and literally the second-to-last point in my training session I hit a forehand,

“I felt a sharp pain, and I had to stop playing.”

Kyrgios added: “It’s not ideal, but I guess we go back to the drawing board as a team, and we just try and navigate a way to just get through these matches.”

It remains a question if Kyrgios will be fit for the upcoming Miami Masters starting at mid-month.

Main photo:-