Injury sustained during ‘gunpoint robbery’ the reason behind Nick Kyrgios’ French Open withdrawal

French Open

Shahida Jacobs
May 18, 2023

It was initially suggested that Nick Kyrgios withdrew from the French Open as he is still struggling with his knee, but it has been reported that an injury he picked up during an alleged armed robbery at his house is the reason behind the move.

2022 Wimbledon runner-up Kyrgios hasn’t featured on the ATP Tour this year as he underwent surgery on his troublesome knee in mid January and was initially expected to return to action in March.

However, he missed that date and it was then suggested he would return at the French Open, which gets underway on May 28, but his withdrawal from the clay-court Grand Slam was confirmed earlier this week.

Many assumed it was due to his knee, but his manager Daniel Horsfall has now confirmed that it was because of a foot injury he picked up during an incident at his house in early May.

Australian media reported that Kyrgios’ mother, Norlaila Kyrgios, was held at gunpoint during the robbery and a man demanded the keys to her son’s green Tesla. A man was later arrested and appeared in court not long after.

According to court documents, Ms Kyrgios alerted her son of the man and the incident before the tennis player called triple-0 (the emergency number), but there was no indication that the 27-year-old was in the house during the incident.

Kyrgios manager has now revealed that he “cut his foot quite badly” during “the ordeal”.

“The knee surgery went as well as it possibly could and his rehabilitation was fantastic and we were at the point where we were doing on-court loading and management,” Horsfall told The Canberra Times.

“We needed to be at a point that he could comfortably play five sets. Right when we were getting stuck into the loading period, the [alleged] armed robbery happened at his house. During the ordeal he cut his foot quite badly.

“We don’t know when it happened, but it’s quite a large laceration. The location of the wound, it’s been open for almost a week and a half now. It’s not healing correctly and he can’t put in the work on court, so he’s been off court for almost two weeks now.

“His knee is fine, it’s just that he can’t get his loading up so we can manage the rest of his body correctly and he doesn’t injure something else when he gets out there.”

It remains to be seen when Kyrgios will return to action as the grass-court season gets underway on June 12.

Horsfall later told Reuters: “Basically, it’s just set him back about two-and-a-half weeks in terms of his loading schedule to get back on court for what we thought was going to be the Grand Slam.”

He added: “He couldn’t slide, couldn’t get on court because every time he put a shoe on, it moved and it would re-open.”

Nick Kyrgios