Nick Kyrgios on crutches as his manager gives fitness update

Shahida Jacobs
February 1, 2023

Nick Kyrgios is on the mend and “rebuilding” following an operation on his knee just over a week ago.

The world No 20 was left heartbroken after he was forced to pull out of his home Grand Slam, the Australian Open, on the eve of his opening match due to a knee injury.

As a result he was not only unable to compete in the singles – where he felt he was one of the favourites to win the title – but was also denied an opportunity to defend his men’s doubles title with Thanasi Kokkinakis.

His physiotherapist Will Maher revealed that had a small tear in his left lateral meniscus and an MRI found a parameniscal cyst growing in the lateral meniscus.

He underwent an arthroscopic procedure in Canberra on January 23 to clean up his lateral meniscus and remove the paralabral cyst.

Kyrgios himself posted an Instagram Story with a video of him walking on crutches with the caption “Rebuilding” before adding during a Q&A with fans that he will spend his time on the sidelines ‘grinding” on the video game Pokémon Unite.

His friend and long-time manager Daniel Horsfall gave a more detailed update about the 27-year-old’s recovery on Wednesday.

“The surgery went great,” he said on SEN Sportsday. “To be honest, we couldn’t have asked for a better result. We’re all pretty pleased, the team is ready to go, when he’s ready, we’re ready.”

Horsfall added: “He’s in a knee brace at the moment, he only has movement up to about 70 degrees. We have a post-op appointment today to test where it’s at, but we’ve been talking to the surgeon most days and also the physio.

“They’re really, really pleased, he might be recovering faster than what we were expecting so it’s good news.”

Kyrgios is yet to play competitive tennis this year as he also pulled out of the United Cup due his knee injury with his last singles encounter coming at the Japan Open at the beginning of October. However, he did compete in the men’s doubles alongside Thanasi Kokkinakis at the ATP Finals.

Physio Maher confirmed that he will recover throughout February and will likely make his comeback at the Indian Wells Open, which starts on March 6. Should he fail to be fit for the California event then he is expected to return at the Miami Open on March 20.

Nick Kyrgios