Nick Kyrgios' Olympic hopes take massive hit after tennis star provides injury update

Lachlan McKirdy

Nick Kyrgios' Olympic hopes take massive hit after tennis star provides injury update image

Nick Kyrgios has appeared to confirm he will not be appearing at the Tokyo Olympics after providing an injury update on his Instagram story.

Kyrgios was forced to retire from his third-round Wimbledon encounter against Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime.

After the match, he said he had a hurt his abdomen and if he had continued he would have done serious damage. 

It was a highly successful week for Kyrgios who made his return to the international tennis circuit after playing in the Australian Open earlier this year. 

However, a lot of the talk around Kyrgios' week at SW19 surrounded his upcoming appearance at the Tokyo Olympics. 

Kyrgios was one of 11 named in Australia's record tennis team for the rescheduled Olympic Games in Japan. 

Not long after the team was announced, the Atlanta Open posted that Nick would also be competing at their tournament. 

The only problem there was that the Tokyo Olympics and Atlanta Open are scheduled at the same time, the final week of July. 

 
   
 

At first, Kyrgios was adamant that he hadn't made up his mind which tournament he was going to play in. 

After his withdrawal from Wimbledon however, he hinted that he was leaning towards Atlanta and suggested that he doesn't want to play at the Olympics if there aren't going to be any crowds

“If I’m to play the Olympics I wanna do it the right way,” Kyrgios said post-match.

“I wanna do it with full crowds, with my guests there. I want to do it when I’m able to watch other athletes do their thing. That’s the Olympics for me.

"The Olympics, the way it’s going to go on, is not the Olympics.”

The Australian Olympic Committee confirmed that the spot was Kyrgios' until he told them otherwise and will support his decision no matter what. 

“In terms of Nick Kyrgios – we would still love to see Nick over at these Games," said Chef de Mission of the Australian Olympic Team, Ian Chesterman.

"He knows he is welcome at these Games, and I would still think it would be a fantastic outcome for tennis and our team if he was there.

"I understand and respect his decision, whichever way he goes. The Games are different, people have to be able to believe they can perform under these different circumstances.

"Nick will make his own decision and we will respect that."

But now it appears that Nick has certainly made his mind up that his return from injury is going to be in Atlanta. 

Posting to his Instagram story from his home in Nassau in the Bahamas, Kyrgios gave his 1.7 million followers a glimpse of his training schedule. 

In the picture he posted, it can be seen written at the top of the page that his next tournament will be Atlanta 250. 

kyrgios olympics post

If Kyrgios, the world number 60, does not play at the Olympics he will have to wait three more years to make his debut at the event. 

The 26-year-old has spoken passionately about his love of team events and how playing in front of a crowd often spurs him on to do better. 

He will be 29 by the time Paris 2024 rolls around but we have no doubt Kyrgios will already be eyeing that event off to make his Olympic debut and represent his country. 

 

Lachlan McKirdy

Lachlan McKirdy Photo