Injury cuts short Australian Kyrgios’ tennis season

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.