Nick Kyrgios out of Halle Open with knee injury shortly after comeback

Australia's Nick Kyrgios returns the ball to China's Wu Yibing during the Stuttgart tennis tournament, Germany, Tuesday, June 13, 2023. (Marijan Murat/dpa via AP)

HALLE, Germany -

Last year's Wimbledon runner-up Nick Kyrgios withdrew from the Halle Open on Monday in his latest setback as he tries to recover from a long-running knee injury.

“I tried everything here in Halle the last couple of days, but then I had to make the decision to pull out”, Kyrgios said in a statement on the tournament website. “I want, when I play, to deliver a performance like last year when I was in the semifinals. But that will really not be possible.”

Tournament organizers said Kyrgios was “still suffering from the aftereffects of a complicated knee injury which had put him out of action for around seven months,” adding that he felt a recurrence of the knee issue while training in Halle.

Kyrgios, who had knee surgery in January, returned to action last week for the first time since October in a straight-set loss to Wu Yibing at the grass-court Stuttgart Open.

Halle is another grass event viewed as a warmup for Wimbledon. The Australian had been due to play Lorenzo Sonego in the first round and his place has now been taken by former Australian Open semifinalist Aslan Karatsev.