(Reuters) -Wimbledon runner-up Nick Kyrgios has pulled out of the Halle tournament in Germany due to an ongoing issue with his knee and the Australian said on Monday he wanted to give his body every chance to be ready for the grasscourt Grand Slam.
The 28-year-old underwent surgery on a left knee injury earlier in the year and was beaten in his comeback match after a five-month layoff when he fell to China’s Wu Yibing in the Stuttgart Open first round last week.
He had trouble with his movement during that match and the problem has now forced Kyrgios to pull out of the ATP 500 event in Halle, where he reached the semi-finals in 2022.
“Very unfortunate news. I won’t be able to compete at Halle this year,” Kyrgios said in a video released by the organisers of the tournament.
“I’m still dealing with a couple of things with my knee. Just trying to give myself the best opportunity to compete at Wimbledon. As you all know, that tournament means a lot to me and I just want to do everything right by my body.
“I didn’t want to go out there and not give you the same performance I gave last year. So hopefully next year I’ll be healthy enough to play (at Halle). See you soon.”
The world number 31 will be replaced in the Halle draw by lucky loser Aslan Karatsev, organisers added. The Wimbledon build-up tournament began earlier on Monday.
Kyrgios, who lost to Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final last year, had previously played a singles match in October in Tokyo and pulled out of the Australian Open in January in the leadup to the tournament.
He missed the French Open due to a foot injury he sustained during the theft of his car last month.
Wimbledon will begin on July 3.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in BengaluruEditing by Christian Radnedge)
