Nick Kyrgios ends season early due to hip injury; eyes return to fitness in time for Australian Open

Paris: Volatile Australian Nick Kyrgios became the latest high-profile tennis star to bring an early end to his season on Thursday with the 22-year-old surrendering to his long-standing hip injury. The World No 20 said he was withdrawing from the remainder of the campaign in the hope of being fully fit for a fresh assault on the 2018 Australian Open in January. [caption id=“attachment_3056604” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Nick Kyrgios. AFP[/caption] “Unfortunately due to the reoccurence of my hip injury which I originally suffered at Queen’s, I am shutting down my season to make sure I can rehab and prepare as best as I possibly can for the Australian summer,” Kyrgios said in a statement on Twitter. “Unless I want this to escalate into an injury that requires surgery, I need to listen to my body and my team.” He added: “This year hasn’t been as successful as I would have liked, especially at the Slams. It’s 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 joins Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka in being unable to complete the season while former World No 4 Tomas Berdych also ended his 2017 campaign on Thursday with a back injury. Kyrgios will miss next week’s Swiss Indoors in Basel and the Paris Masters, which starts on 30 October. His last match was on Wednesday when he lost in he second round in Antwerp to Ruben Bemelmans of Belgium. Last week, he was fined $10,000 after storming off midway through his first-round match at the Shanghai Masters. That incident followed him being hit with a point penalty in losing the final in Beijing to Rafael Nadal. Earlier this year, Kyrgios shelved the start of his claycourt season to return to Australia after his grandfather passed away. Kyrgios endured a bittersweet season on the court, losing in the second round of the Australian and French Opens before first round exits at Wimbledon and the US Open. But he also made the final of the Cincinnati Masters and helped Australia reach the Davis Cup semi-finals.