By Richard Pagliaro| @Tennis_Now | Monday, August 21, 2023
Continuing his comeback from knee surgery, Nick Kyrgios withdrew from the US Open and will miss all four Grand Slams in a season for the first time in his career.
The 28-year-old Kyrgios calls this injury-marred 2023 season "brutal" but has made a vow for his future.
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Kyrgios says when he's fully healthy and turns the page on 2023, he will regain the level that saw him reach the 2022 Wimbledon final and US Open quarterfinals.
"To my millions of fans out there, I guess we just have to be patient," Kyrgios posted on Instagram. "Trust me, I still have some fire left in the tank, my body just needs time to recover and get back.
"I'm still as motivated as ever, in the gym, treatment, recovery. Everything off court is doing great [I am] eyeing to come back and have a season like my last again."
The explosive Kyrgios underwent an arthroscopic surgery to clean up his lateral meniscus and remove a paralabral cyst from his knee in the final week of January.
That surgery prevented Kyrgios from defending his Australian Open doubles championship with partner Thanasi Kokkinakis and taking a run at the AO singles title.
Recovery from surgery has limited the Aussie to one match this season. Kyrgios said it's been "heartbreaking" and "brutal" trying to come back from his knee issues and seeing major opportunity pass.
"In a way it was good to be home. Obviously heartbreaking as well," Kyrgios said. "You're competing for Grand Slams. Last year I felt like everything kind of came together for me. Finals of Wimbledon. Barely lost a match. Had the third best season on tour.
"Obviously my body was just crying out for some sort of rest. I needed to do what I had to do. Yeah, it's been brutal. Yeah, it's been hard...
"I think pulling out of Australian Open was one of the hardest things I had to do because I generally feel like, with the tennis I was playing and with my Grand Slam experience, just the way I was feeling, I felt like I could win that tournament. Obviously from then I had to get surgery."
The 2023 season hasn't been a total write off for Kyrgios, who underwent a major ink job getting his entire back tatooed this summer.
Photo credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve