Injured Nick Kyrgios forced to leave Wimbledon in third round

Australian tennis player Nick Kyrgios was forced to retire from his Wimbledon third-round match against Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime on Saturday after picking up an abdominal injury.

After winning the first set 6-2, he dropped the second set 1-6 when he called it quits. “I did my abdomen at the end of the first set,” said the 26-year-old Kyrgios.

“I haven’t played at this level of tennis for a while and my serve is my main weapon. I need that to be firing on all cylinders,” he added.

In the first round, Kyrgios defeated Ugo Humbert of France in a five-setter. After winning the first set 6-4, Kyrgios dropped the next two sets 4-6, 3-6 but bounced back strong to win the next two sets 6-1, 9-7.

In the second round, Kyrgios saw off Gianluca Mager 7(9)-6(7), 6-4, 6-4 in a one-sided affair. However, his run at the SW19 was brought to an abrupt halt due to an injury.

Before the start of the tournament, he said that he “wants to be a better tennis player and a better person” at Wimbledon where he made his breakthrough as a brash teenager in 2014.

The 26-year-old Australian firebrand famously defeated Rafael Nadal on his debut at the All England Club seven years ago on his way to the quarter-finals.

“I want to be better as a tennis player and a person. I have reached a nice level of freedom, nothing fazes me at all anymore and I feel I have more to give the game. I feel a lot of people want me to play,” Kyrgios said.

Apart from this, Kyrgios was included in an 11-strong Australian tennis team for the Tokyo Olympics.

The Australia team comprises six men and five women, including former US Open champion Sam Stosur who will be going to her fifth Olympic Games at the age of 37.