Nick Kyrgios Retires From Match After A Nasty Slip On The Grass

Nick Kyrgios’s injury woes continued today in his first-round match at the Queen’s Club Championships, as the tour transitions to a new surface. During his first match on grass—which is well-suited to his ace-hungry game—he slipped and fell, tweaking his knee at an ugly angle. After a medical timeout to treat the injury, and an attempt to play through the first-set tiebreak despite visible pain, the 22-year-old walked over to the net, handing the match to Donald Young.

The fall seemed to have re-aggravated the same hip injury that dogged Kyrgios throughout the clay season. “I started feeling it when I was walking, when I was landing on my serve. It’s exactly what I was feeling in Paris. I mean, it’s tough to play through,” he told reporters. It’s worth refreshing your memory of what happened in Paris.

Queen’s is a warm-up tournament for Wimbledon, the major where Kyrgios has seen most consistent success: in his three tries, he has never lost before the round of 16, making the quarterfinals in 2014 after an upset of Rafael Nadal. This latest injury doesn’t appear to have dampened the Australian’s interest in playing Wimbledon, though it may affect his quality of play there:

Asked about his chances of recovering in time for Wimbledon, which gets under way on 3 July, Kyrgios said: “I’d play Wimbledon if I was injured pretty bad anyway.

“I’m here anyway. I don’t really have time to go home or anything. Yeah, I will be playing, for sure.”

And the Australian joked that the enforced lay-off meant he might spend the coming days at a pub in Wimbledon village.

“Dog & Fox,” he replied, when asked for his immediate plans.

Kyrgios isn’t the only player struggling to find footing on the slippery grass in the early days of the season, both at Queen’s and at the Halle Open. Here’s Joao Sousa landing hard on his knee during his loss to Philipp Kohlschreiber:

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga also ate it during his victory over Adrian Mannarino:

And Gael Monfils hit the turf hard no fewer than three times in his loss to Richard Gasquet. Granted, Gael Monfils is a lot more acquainted with the ground than most people on tour.