Nick Kyrgios set for slide down ATP Rankings as injury woes continue

Shahida Jacobs 28 Jul 2023 2:33 PM

Nick Kyrgios on court

Nick Kyrgios is in danger of slipping out of the top 100 of the ATP Rankings as his injury-enforced absence from the Tour continues.

On the back of a brilliant latter half of the 2022 season, Kyrgios was due to kick off the North American hard-court swing with 1,175 points which puts him at No 35 in the rankings.

Last year’s success means he has a lot of points to defend over the next couple of months, but it has already been confirmed that he won’t defend his Citi Open title in Washington next week.

“Unfortunately my body is not ready to compete yet. My wrist is still not anywhere near to pain-free. Keep you all updated,” the 28-year-old said after pulling out of the tournament.

As a result, he will drop 500 points after the Washington event and that will leave him with only 675 points when the rankings are updated on August 7, which will likely lead to him dropping to No 90.

However, it won’t be the first time in recent years that Kyrgios has slipped down the rankings before making his way back up the ladder again after returning to form.

He missed the bulk of the 2020 and 2021 season due to the Covid-19 pandemic as well as injury and by February 2022 he had fallen to No 137 – his lowest position since June 2014. The Australian then turned things around and by June last year he was back in the top 50 before his end-of-year form helped him to return to briefly return to the top 20.

It remains to be seen if he will return for the two ATP Masters 1000 events after the Citi Open with the Canadian Open starting on August 7 and the Cincinnati Masters running from August 14-20.

Points Kyrgios has to defend for the remainder of 2023

ATP 500 Citi Open – 500
ATP 1000 Canadian Open – 360 points
ATP 1000 Cincinnati Open – 45 points
US Open – 360
Japan Open – 90

Last year he reached the quarter-final in Canada so he has 180 points to defend while he made the round of 32 in Cincinnati, which is worth 45 points.

He has another 360 points to defend at the US Open as he made it to the quarter-final in 2022, his best performance at Flushing Meadows to date, while he also reached the last four of the ATP 500 Japan Open, which is worth another 90 points.

The Australian has played only one match so far in 2023 and that was a first-round defeat at the Stuttgart Open in June. Having already missed the Australian Open and the French Open due to a knee injury and foot problem, respectively, he then withdrew from Wimbledon.