Tennis fans at the Ariake Coliseum were left disappointed after Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios was forced to pull out of his quarter-final match against Taylor Fritz on Friday.
The world No.20 looked to be in solid form heading into the last eight after producing a duo of convincing wins. In the first round, he dropped just four games against Tseng Chun-Hsin in what was the first match he had played since the US Open. Then on Thursday, he followed up on that victory by coming from behind to defeat Kamil Majchrzak 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.
Kyrgios was also the top seed in the doubles draw alongside Thanasi Kokkinakis. The duo won their two opening matches to reach the semi-finals which they have now withdrawn from. Sending Marcelo Melo and Mackenzie McDonald into the final.
Announcing his withdrawal, Kyrgios said his decision to do so is due to his knee. It is not the first time he has been forced to pull out of a tournament due to the issue. He also withdrew from the Atlanta Open during the summer and ended his 2021 season early due to left knee patella tendinopathy. A soft tissue injury which can cause pain in the tendon below the knee cap.
“It’s the better option for my body. I have to be smart and after hitting with Thanasi today I feel that this is the best thing to do. I have a couple of tournaments at the end of the year and wanna do well there,” said Kyrgios.
As a result, Fritz is through to his third semi-final of the season after Indian Wells and Eastbourne. The run comes after what has been far from perfect preparation for the American who spent last week in quarantine after testing positive for COVID-19. Fritz said earlier this week that he got ‘pretty sick’ with the virus.
In the other section of the draw, US Open semi-finalist Frances Tiafoe will take on South Korea’s Kwon Soon-woo for a place in the final. Tiafoe stormed to an impressive 6-0, 6-4, win over Miomir Kecmanović.
“Kwon’s a great player. He’s been playing really well this week, so it’s going to be cool to play him, we practise sometimes in Florida.” He said.
Kwon defeated Pedro Martinez 6-3, 6-0, in his quarter-final match.
