Nick Kyrgios out of Indian Wells and Miami in brutal new development

Nick Kyrgios has announced his withdrawal from Indian Wells and Miami in a brutal twist for the Aussie tennis player. Kyrgios was forced to withdraw from the Australian Open in January and underwent surgery on his knee.

The World No.19 had been targeting a return at the Masters 1000 events at Indian Wells and Miami in March, but it was revealed on Tuesday that he won't be able to play. Event organisers said Kyrgios isn't ready to play and is still recovering from his knee injury.

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After a breakout year in 2022 that saw him reach the final at Wimbledon and quarter-finals at the US Open, Kyrgios was gutted after being forced to pull out of his home grand slam at the Australian Open. He aggravated the knee injury in an exhibition match against Novak Djokovic a few days before the Melbourne Park grand slam.

Kyrgios and his physio revealed the Aussie star had a cyst growing on his left meniscus that required arthroscopy surgery. He returned to his home in Canberra and went under the knife a few days later.

"It hasn't been easy at all," Kyrgios said about withdrawing from his home grand slam. "I'm devastated obviously. It's like my home tournament. I've had some great memories here. Obviously last year winning the title in doubles and playing the best tennis of my life probably.

"I've worked so hard, put myself in the position to (challenge for the title). I was ranked outside 100 a year ago. Now I've had the year I had last year and back inside the 20, being seeded at a grand slam, feeling as good as I'm feeling and playing the way I'm feeling. Yeah, I wanted to give myself a chance."

His latest withdrawal means Kyrgios hasn't played an official ATP match since the Japan Open in October. He also pulled out of that event before the quarter-finals.

Kyrgios will now likely turn his attention to the clay-court season. The Aussie hasn't played the French Open since 2017 due to his hatred of clay, but revealed last year that he'll make a return to Roland Garros because his girlfriend wants to visit Paris.

“Next year I am going to go to Paris. I’m announcing that now, I’m going to the French Open,” he told tennis reporter and host Blair Henley. “I haven’t played that in four years so I’ll be back next year. My girlfriend just wants to see Paris. I mean, I’ll play the French Open as well.”

Nick Kyrgios' preparation called into question

Kyrgios came under fire from Aussie legend Todd Woodbridge in the wake of his Australian Open withdrawal. Woodbridge questioned whether Kyrgios' decision to play exhibition events in Saudi Arabia and Dubai in December was wise.

"I would hope he has a look at what he did at Wimbledon last year when his preparation was great," Woodbridge told Wide World of Sports. "The lead-up from a physical point-of-view, to then getting into the lead-in tournaments, to playing enough matches to be able to walk into Wimbledon knowing that everything was in that positive frame that he spoke about.

"Was that the preparation that happened before this summer? That's the question, and if you were looking back at his schedule you would say that it was difficult to see that prep when he was flying around the world playing exhibition events."

Tennis fans were left saddened to hear Kyrgios won't be in action at Indian Wells and Miami. The 'Sunshine Double' represents the biggest events on the tennis calendar outside of the four grand slams.

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