‘Knee cooked’: Nick Kyrgios limps along road to recovery in return from injury

Nick Kyrgios has come through his first match since March, and just his sixth this year, completing almost an hour on court in a men’s doubles defeat at the ATP Tour’s DC Open.

Partnering French veteran Gael Monfils, and playing in front of NBA star Kevin Durant, Kyrgios had a tough opening draw against third seeds Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Hugo Nys.

Monfils was broken in the opening game and while Kyrgios held his first service match both players were then broken to lose the first set 6-2.

The second was much the same. Monfils being broken early and Kyrgios late as they dropped it 6-2 again.

Kyrgios grabbed at his knee throughout the match and was seen limping towards the end as he continued his preparation for a grand slam return at the US Open.

“Knee cooked but fans still fucked with us,” he later posted on Instagram.

Nonetheless, just being on court was something of an achievement for the 30-year-old Australian who has been dogged by injury since reaching the Wimbledon final in 2022.

Kyrgios last played doubles at the Australian Open in January, retiring in the second set of his opening match with himself and Thanasi Kokkinakis 7-5 3-2 down to fellow Aussies James Duckworth and Aleksandar Vukic.

The former world No 13 subsequently played three singles matches, retiring when 7-6 (8-6) 3-0 down in the first round at Indian Wells in March. The wrist he had an operation on in September 2023 was still an issue.

However, he reached the second round at the Miami Open later in the month, beating McKenzie McDonald for his first singles win since 2022. In the second round he lost to Karen Khachanov and this outing in the US capital was his first match since, as injuries continued to be an an issue.

Kyrgios has a current ATP ranking of 640, but has activated his protected ranking of 21 to be included on the official entry list for the US Open.

The Australian will focus on doubles at the final grand slam tournament of the year in New York as he continues to suffer from long-running injury concerns.

“I wanted to play singles, but six weeks ago I had a bit of a niggle with my knee,” Kyrgios said. “So it’s just going to take a bit more time.”

Earlier on Monday in a sweltering Washington, Chris O’Connell went down 6-3 6-2 to American Ethan Quinn, ranked five places lower at world No 82, while later, Vukic takes on big-serving Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.

Alex de Minaur and Alexei Popyrin are also in the ATP 500 event but have received first-round byes.

Maya Joint’s first match at the DC Open ended in disappointment as she lost to Canada’s Leylah Fernandez 6-3 6-3 in one hour 20 minutes.

Australia’s teenage sensation will still be going to Flushing Meadows amid raised expectations after an impressive first half of the season – and the knowledge that last year she came through qualifying and reached the second round in New York.