Advertisement

'There's no point': Nick Kyrgios explains break from tennis

Nick Kyrgios’ season has gone from bad to worse after the Aussie’s shock first round loss in China.

Kyrgios is set to sit out the remainder of the Asian swing to allow himself time to recover from a shoulder injury in time for the Davis Cup.

The 24-year-old crashed out of the Zhuhai Championships on Wednesday after losing in the first round to Italian veteran Andreas Seppi 7-6 (7-5) 6-1.

The controversial Canberran was leading 4-1 in the first set when his shoulder started playing up, hampering his blistering serve, the most lethal weapon in his game.

“I was battling with a bit of a shoulder/collar bone injury,” the Australian sixth seed, who also withdrew from last weekend's Laver Cup with the same injury, told reporters.

A shoulder injury will see Nick Kyrgios take a break from tennis.
Nick Kyrgios is taking time off from tennis to get his shoulder injury right. Pic: Getty

"There's no point for me to play if I can't really serve, because serving is my strength, my favourite shot.”

"So if I'm not able to serve at my best and I'm hindered, I'm probably not going to bother playing until I can get it right again.

"I was playing well in the first set, I was obviously up a break serving for the set and... I was obviously struggling a lot. I'm serving usually somewhere around the 230 km per hour mark and I wasn't even able to crack about 180."

The Aussie revealed that he wasn’t willing to take any chances after noticing a “clicking” sensation from his shoulder.

“At this rate I’m not thinking about playing until my shoulder’s — or I don’t even know what it is — but until my front of my shoulder feels better and I can serve.”

Kyrgios, whose fiery temperament has often landed him in trouble with tennis authorities, said he would consider resting until the Davis Cup finals in Madrid in November.

Australia have been drawn in Group D, alongside Belgium and Colombia.

"I want to play (in the) Davis Cup toward the end of the year, that's mid November," he said.

"So until ... then I've got a lot of time, I can rest, recover, get my shoulder right."

With AAP