Nick Kyrgios limps out of Cincinnati Masters to spark US Open fears
Nick Kyrgios retired from the Cincinnati Masters on Wednesday (local time) with a one-sided 6-3, 6-2 loss to American Taylor Fritz.
The in-form Aussie struggled throughout the Round of 32 game as his busy schedule seemed to have caught up with him last month.
Kyrgios also required a physio to treat his knee towards the end of the game as the US Open is now less than two weeks away.
Former US Open finalist Greg Rusedski was concerned about what he saw of Kyrgios vs Fritz as the crowd was disappointed by the Aussie’s unwillingness to fight.
“You can hear the boos in the stadium. They don’t feel like he did his best out there and we hope the knee isn’t too serious, but he needs to show more,” Rusedski said in Amazon Prime’s coverage of the game.
“He’s improved out of sight, but physically he needs to get stronger.
“You worry physically about the knee. It’s a lot easier on grass than on hard.”
Fab Fritz ✌️ @Taylor_Fritz97 blasts past Nick Kyrgios 6-3, 6-2 to reach the last 16 #CincyTennis for the first time! pic.twitter.com/SOdIdVJJQt
– Tennis TV (@TennisTV) August 17, 2022
Kyrgios, who won his first ATP singles tournament in three years at the Citi Open earlier this month, has played 12 singles matches so far in August.
His loss to Fritz was only his second loss in those 12 encounters, having also lost to Hubert Hurkacz in the quarterfinals of the Canadian Open.
In addition to his singles commitments, the 27-year-old played in men’s doubles, winning the Atlanta Open with Thanasi Kokkinakis before completing a historic doubles match with Jack Sock at the Citi Open.
While all those games have helped Kyrgios regain the best form of his career and a top-30 ATP ranking, his recent performance suggests a break ahead of the US Open is badly needed.
The Australian was backed as a real contender for the tournament after also reaching the Wimbledon final in July.
Andy Roddick praised Kyrgios’ incredible run in Washington earlier this month and believes such a performance means he must be considered a US Open favourite.
“Going through singles and doubles and not falling out mentally or physically is a big, big sign,” Roddick said on the Tennis Channel.
“I think it puts him in the top two, maybe three favorites for the US Open.”
It was an overall disappointing day for the Australians in Cincinnati, where Alex de Minaur was also convincingly beaten 6-3, 6-2 by Felix Auger-Aliassime.