Breaking: Top-ranked local hope Alex de Minaur has pulled out of the Australian Open, unable to overcome an abdominal injury.
De Minaur said this was a new injury, but to a part of his anatomy that gives him problems at at this time every year when his training schedule is at its peak. "It's definitely something to do with workload because it normally happens at the start of the year," he said. He said he and his conditioning team would have to reassess what they do.
De Minaur said he relished the team format of the ATP Cup and any chance to play for Australia, which complicated his thinking about the tournament, which has been squeezed into the tennis calendar and follows the new-look Davis Cup by only a couple of months.De Minaur's withdrawal adds to a cursed prelude to this year's Australian Open. Bushfire smoke, then heavy rain, have disrupted the qualifying event and the exhibition Kooyong Classic.
Compatriot Nick Kyrgios, who at No.26 will now be Australia's highest-ranked hope in the men's draw, said the news of de Minaur's withdrawal was "heartbreaking".
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