By Richard Pagliaro | Tuesday, May 16, 2017

 

Nick Kyrgios withdrew from Rome due to a hip injury he initially sustained in Madrid last week.

Photo credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve

A hip injury has knocked Nick Kyrgios out of Rome.

The 18th-ranked Australian pulled out of the clay-court Masters today prior to his scheduled opening-round match against Roberto Bautista Agut.

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Lucky loser Alexandr Dolgopolov replaced Kyrgios in the draw.

It is Kyrgios’ second withdrawal in his last three tournaments.

The Australian No. 1 pulled out of the Millennium Estoril Open to attend his grandfather’s funeral.

The Miami Open semifinalist has played just three clay-court singles matches this year.

Kyrgios defeated Marcos Baghdatis and Ryan Harrison in straight sets before bowing to eventual-champion Rafael Nadal at the Mutua Madrid Open last week.

The 22-year-old Kyrgios initially felt hip pain during his 7-6 (1), 6-4 win over Baghdatis.

In his loss to Nadal, Kyrgios lacked his typical explosiveness. After falling to the nine-time Roland Garros champion, Kyrgios said he “wasn’t expecting to beat him at all tonight.”

“Yeah, I haven't had the best preparations coming into this tournament,” Kyrgios told the media in Madrid. “I mean, I didn't really train for a week and a half before this tournament. So to even come here and win a couple rounds. I wasn't expecting myself to play well this week at all. I didn't feel too good before the tournament on the court. Wasn't playing well.

“I won a couple rounds and lost to Rafa. I'm relatively happy with my first week on clay. But he played well tonight. He was by far the better player.”

Kyrgios' best Roland Garros results are successive third-round appearances in each of the last two years.

The withdrawal comes a day after it was announced former world No. 4 Sebastien Grosjean will serve as Kyrgios' part-time coach, focusing on the preparation for the Grand Slam tournaments.