Nick Kyrgios was preparing to finally return to competitive, on-tour tennis for the first time after the 2021 US Open. The 26-year-old star had been working for the Australian Open 2022 quite hard.

In fact, he was going to headline the season opener match against Slovak Alex Molcan at the Melbourne Summer Set. The tournament is a crucial warmup tournament that precedes the first Grand Slam of the year.

However, the Australian home crowds will have to wait a little longer to see Kyrgios wow them with his on-court antics.

Nick Kyrgios withdraws from the Melbourne Summer Set

Kyrgios had been feeling unwell for the past week. With the rising amount of coronavirus cases in the country, Kyrgios was afraid of having caught it. However, the tests for the virus came back negative for the star.

Surprisingly, merely six hours before he was to take to the court, Nick Kyrgios began having trouble breathing. “I’m really sorry that I’ve had to pull out from this Melbourne Summer Set event,” Kyrgios made a statement soon after. The official reason for his withdrawal from the tournament is asthma.

He shared how his health hadn’t been the best for the past four days. “I have had several COVID-19 tests over the last few days, which all came back negative.”

For the World No. 93, competitive tennis will have to wait another week. Nick Kyrgios has received a wildcard singles entry into the Sydney Classic tournament next week, where he will be playing now.

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Kyrgios was looking forward to his home crowd and expressed it. He stated how Australians were the best fans in the world. “I can’t wait to get back out there and see you all,” Kyrgios stated.

Kyrgios is still watching the Summer Set

Earlier today, Australian WTA player Priscilla Hon, went up against 2-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova. In the third set of the match, the two engaged in a fantastic rally.

In fact, Hon put on a defensive showcase against Kvitova, and ultimately won the point with perseverance and resilience. Nick Kyrgios himself came out with a tweet appreciating Priscilla. “Pri is rlly good,” Kyrgios wrote.

Despite being out of the warmup Summer Set, it is clear that Kyrgios is keenly watching the matches, and can’t wait to be the one playing on the slopes himself.

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