Injury has struck Nick Kyrgios at the worst possible time as he looks to progress to the US Open semi-finals.
The Australian stunned world number one Daniil Medvedev in the round of 16 and was seen as a favourite going into his quarter-final match against Karen Khachanov.
But Kyrgios started the match without his usual aggression and repeatedly clutched at his left knee during points.
The 27-year-old’s backhand was also weaker than usual as he struggled to play through some visible pain.
After the two players held serve for much of the first set, Kyrgios was broken first when trailling 5-4 as he suffered an early setback.
During the break between sets, the Aussie called for a medical time out to receive treatment for his knee and could be heard describing just how serious the injury was.
“I can’t walk. I can’t walk without pain, it’s too much,” Kyrgios said as he called for a physio.
Khachanov seals the first set with a lob! pic.twitter.com/WjGcqUrT3j
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 7, 2022
After getting his left knee massaged, he returned for the second set but still appeared to be struggling.
At one point in his first service game of the second set, Kyrgios turned to his box and suggested he didn’t want to play on through the injury.
His box wasn’t having any of that talk, however, and the Aussie went on to hold serve and then break Khachanov.
Kyrgios has had a busy schedule at the US Open over the past week and played a long men’s doubles match with Thanasi Kokkinakis yesterday.
The Aussie duo were beaten in three sets 3-6 7-6 (6) 7-6 (8) by Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliovaara.
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