Canberra Oct 20 (IANS) Nick Kyrgios Australia s top-ranked male tennis player has announced an early end to his 2017 season due to a persistent hip injury.
Kyrgios currently ranked number 20 in the world by the Association of Tour Professionals (ATP) has endured shoulder knee and hip injuries in 2017 contributing to a disrupted year where he failed to make it past the second round in any of the four Grand Slams reports Xinhua news agency.
The 22-year-old on Friday announced he would be ending his 2017 season early in a bid to be fully fit for the Australian Open in January 2018.
"Unfortunately due to the recurrence of my hip injury that I originally suffered at Queen s I am shutting down my season to make sure I can rehab and prepare as best as I can for the Australian summer " Kyrgios said in a statement posted on social media.
"I have played a huge amount of tennis since coming back from my hip injury in Washington and unless I want this to escalate to an injury that requires surgery I need to listen to my body and my team.
"This year hasn t been as successful as I would have liked especially at the slams although it has been positive in some other areas. I will do all I can to improve for 2018."
Kyrgios has been the subject of much controversy in 2017 being hit with a 10 119 U.S. dollars fine and losing 21 334 U.S. dollars in prize money after walking off the court and forfeiting during his first-round match at the Shanghai Masters in October.
He also cited personal reasons for derailing his season after his grandfather passed away during the European clay court season.
"It s been no secret that I have had some sad moments to deal with away from the court which have added to my disappointments throughout the year " Kyrgios said.
--IANS
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