Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios will not compete at the upcoming French Open after sustaining a foot injury in an alleged theft at his Canberra home, his agent has confirmed.
At the start of the month, Kyrgios's mother was apparently held at gunpoint by a masked man who demanded keys to her son's Tesla before speeding off.
Kyrgios tracked the driver's movements and limited the car's speed through an app on his phone, and police were ultimately able to apprehend the suspect - a 32-year-old man - who has since been charged with the robbery.
Amid the chaos, the Wimbledon runner-up suffered a cut to his foot, according to agent Daniel Horsfall, which would force him to miss the French Open once again.
Kyrgios has not taken to the court in the 2023 season due to a knee operation, having withdrawn from the Australian Open in January, but he was on track to return for Roland-Garros.
However, Horsfall has now told Reuters that the problem will delay his recovery by another couple of weeks, saying: "During the incident on May 1, they had the armed robbery at the house.
© Reuters
"With all the stuff that was going on Nick lacerated the side of his left foot. We don't know how. 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."
While his foot is giving him grief, Kyrgios's knee is virtually healed following his surgery earlier this year, and the 28-year-old in on course to return to action for the grass-court season.
"He couldn't slide, couldn't get on court because every time he put a shoe on it moved and it would re-open," Horsfall added on Kyrgios's current injury.
"His knee, as far as we're concerned, is actually in fantastic shape, the surgery went well. His fitness is at a fantastic level. It was just when we got to the last point of that rehab, the on-court loading, this freak accident happened."
Kyrgios, who lost to Novak Djokovic in the final of the 2022 Wimbledon Championships, will miss the French Open for the sixth year running this season, having not competed at Roland-Garros since a second-round exit in 2017.
The 2023 French Open takes place from May 28 to June 11.
Ben Knapton
