‘Devastated’ Nick Kyrgios withdraws from Australian Open before first round

One of the tournament favourites, the Aussie had not played a warm-up event because of a knee injury.

NET LOSS: The Australian Open was dealt a major blow when a ‘devastated’ Nick Kyrgios announced his withdrawal ahead of his scheduled first-round match on Tuesday (Mark Baker/AP)

The Australian Open was dealt a major blow when a “devastated” Nick Kyrgios announced his withdrawal ahead of his scheduled first-round match on Tuesday.

The Australian number one, considered one of the favourites after reaching his first grand slam singles final at Wimbledon last summer, had not played a warm-up event because of a knee injury.