ATP Rankings: Nick Kyrgios has officially tumbled out of the rankings. Will Rafael Nadal follow?
Nick Kyrgios has officially dropped out of the ATP Rankings as he has zero ranking points while Rafael Nadal will also come precariously close to joining him on zero points over the next few months.
Australian Kyrgios has struggled with a knee injury this season and he has played only one match, which was a straight-set first-round defeat to Wu Yibing at the Stuttgart Open, leading to him tumbling out of the rankings.
The 28-year-old – who reached a career-high of No 13 in 2016 – kicked off his 2023 season at No 22 in the ATP Rankings with 1,870 points.
However, he withdrew from the Australian Open on the eve of the tournament as he also announced that he would undergo arthroscopic surgery to fix a tear in his lateral meniscus.
After initially indicating that he would only be sidelined for eight weeks, his comeback date was then pushed back until the French Open only for him to announce another delay in his return after he picked up a foot injury during a break-in at his home in Canberra.
Kyrgios finally made his return at Stuttgart in June where he lost against Yibing. He was then scheduled to return in Halle, but withdrew and a few weeks later he also pulled out of Wimbledon.
Withdrawals from the North American hard-court season – including the US Open – followed suit.
The bulk of his 2022 points came from that swing in the United States as he won the Citi Open in DC and also reached the quarter-final at Flushing Meadows.
He slipped to No 469 in the rankings after the US Open and the last of his points – 90 from his run to the Japan Open quarter-final last year – have now dropped off.
Despite talk that he could quit tennis, Kyrgios has indicated that he will return next year and will be able to use his protected ranking to enter events.
READ MORE: Nick Kyrgios retirement rumours rubbished
What about Rafael Nadal?
The Spaniard started the year at No 2 in the ATP Rankings but he currently sits at No 243 with only 255 points in the bag and most of that will come off at the ATP Finals.
The 22-time Grand Slam winner has played only four matches this year – winning just one match, a first-round victory at the Australian Open – after sustaining a hip injury in Melbourne.
Nadal will lose 10 points after the Paris Masters as he suffered a second-round defeat last year and will then drop 200 points after winning one match at the 2022 ATP Finals.
It means the Spaniard will start the 2024 season with only 45 points for his first-round win at last year’s Australian Open and it remains to be seen if he will return to Melbourne next year.
