Nick Kyrgios withdrew from the Australian Open on Monday due to a knee injury. The Australian was scheduled to face Roman Safiullin on Tuesday, but will be replaced in the draw by lucky loser Denis Kudla.

“Obviously this coming around is just bad timing. But that’s life. Injury is a part of the sport. I guess I can draw some inspiration from someone like Thanasi [Kokkinakis] who has had a bunch of injuries and has bounced back,” Kyrgios said. “Look, I’m not doubting I will be back to my full strength and playing the tennis I was playing prior to this event.

“Yeah, I’m devastated obviously. It’s like my home tournament. I’ve had some great memories here. Obviously last year winning the title in doubles and playing the best tennis of my life probably. Then going into this event as one of the favourites, it’s brutal. All I can do now is just look forward, do what I need to do and come back.”

Kyrgios earned one of the best results of his career at the 2022 Australian Open, where he partnered close friend Thanasi Kokkinakis to the doubles title. The 27-year-old maintained his form throughout the year, advancing to the Wimbledon final in singles and triumphing at the Citi Open among other results.

But in the past week, discomfort in the knee led Kyrgios to undergo an MRI, which revealed a parameniscal cyst growing in his left meniscus, which is the result of a small tear in his lateral meniscus. The Australian’s physio, Will Maher, explained the injury.

“It’s not a significant injury in the sense that it’s going to be career threatening or anything like that. Even at that stage it was still worth persevering to see if we could do anything to get him back on court,” Maher said. “To Nick’s credit, he did try everything, to the point even last week he was having a procedure called a fenestration and drainage where they use a syringe to try and drain the cyst, which Nick has some pretty gruesome photos of. I’m sure he’ll probably share them later.

“Any amount of injections that he could try to get into his knee without causing long-term damage. We came to Melbourne with the hope there might be some pressure relieved from that procedure and he’d have some relief and be able to get up to a level he was comfortable to compete.”

Kyrgios pushed to try to be able to compete in the season’s first major. But the knee became more sore as the week went on.

“I think we’ve made the sensible decision to withdraw him because at this stage he wants to feel mentally comfortable that he can go seven matches, he can go the distance, and needs to be able to do potentially seven three-hour matches. Getting on the court simply wasn’t enough for him,” Maher said. “The situation now is, we wanted to prevent him from having further injury or making that injury worse.

“So now he’ll go back to Canberra at the end of the week, he’ll have an arthroscopic procedure to clean up his lateral meniscus and remove the paralabral cyst.”

After a standout season in 2022, Lorenzo Musetti is poised to take his young career even higher. And the 20-year-old is already learning valuable lessons on the road.

“An important part of our career is to try to put experience in our luggage that we carry,” Musetti told ATPTour.com.

The Italian is rapidly rising to the top of the sport and is gaining profitable experience against the world’s best. After collecting two Tour-level titles this past year, he qualified for the Next Gen ATP Finals and is now at a career-high No. 19 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

Perhaps no time last season was more memorable than when Musetti won a thrilling three-set battle against Carlos Alcaraz to claim the ATP 500 event in Hamburg.

“The week I lifted my first trophy in Hamburg, I won the first match against [Dusan] Lajovic after saving two match points. I was not coming from a good period,” Musetti said. “I had four straight losses, it wasn’t easy. But when you work hard, have patience, and sacrifice yourself, it pays off.”

Another key moment came when Musetti didn’t drop a set all week en route to his title run on home soil in Naples, where he defeated countryman Matteo Berrettini in the final.

Musetti, who is the youngest Italian in the Top 100, isn’t folding to any pressure or expectations. Instead, he’s soaking up every teachable moment on Tour.

“I feel more mature and [I’ve gained] more experience,” Musetti said. “I played many matches this past season, it was tough but fun. I think I improved a lot.

“[I’ve learned] when you make mistakes, you can always find positives to do better next time. If you understand that, you’re going to find a new solution the next time. That’s an important mindset for me.”

Add that newfound mental fortitude to his heavy topspin forehand and lethal one-handed backhand is what makes Musetti a dangerous player. Currently the third highest-ranked Italian, the Carrara native is hungry to soar to new heights this season.

“I did pretty well in 2022 but I want to go higher and higher,” Musetti said. “I’m working hard for it. I think I have the potential and game to do it. I will try my best to break into the Top 10.”

Musetti, who finished 2022 with a 34-29 record, aims to open the new year on a strong note at the Australian Open. Should he get past Lloyd Harris in the opening round, it will be Musetti’s first main draw victory at the season’s first Slam.

Roberto Carballes Baena was practising inside John Cain Arena Thursday afternoon with Italian star Jannik Sinner. The pair trained for two hours before taking a five-minute break ahead of point play. During that brief stop, the Spaniard checked his phone, on which he noticed an unpleasant surprise.

Carballes Baena received a Twitter message that he would be facing nine-time champion Novak Djokovic in the first round of the Australian Open.

“For sure it is something that when I saw the draw, it was tough in one way,” Carballes Baena told ATPTour.com. “But in the other way it’s a very good experience for me. I think [Rod Laver Arena is] one of the best courts in the world so I will try to enjoy, I will try to give my best and I will try to do a good match.”

It is not the first time Carballes Baena has faced Djokovic at a Grand Slam. The Serbian triumphed 6-4, 6-1, 6-4 against him in the first round of the 2019 US Open.

“The first five, 10 minutes I was a little bit nervous. It was very different. It was like a movie. It is like they have a [clapper] and you have to start to play now. But after five or 10 minutes you start to focus on your game, try to give your best,” Carballes Baena. “I think maybe I know him a little bit more than the first time. I saw him so many times on TV but I didn’t play against him. I know that he’s very good in everything but I think I have more of an idea how to play.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Roberto Carballes Baena (@robertocarballes)

That is because the Spaniard has become a practice partner for Djokovic when the former World No. 1 spends time in Marbella, about an hour’s drive from Carballes Baena’s home.

“For me it’s great. It’s something very good. I try to play with the best players and he’s probably one of the best of history,” Carballes Baena said. “You try to learn about his shots, his shots are very clean. He plays very good from everywhere. He serves very good, he returns unbelievable, he has a good backhand, so he’s very, very good in everything.”

Carballes Baena also knows that feeling comfortable training with Djokovic is different from doing so in a match. The best are able to raise their level in the heat of competition.

“It’s different. The nerves before the match, when you start you have to be very, very focussed and in practice it’s different,” Carballes Baena said. “You are trying to learn every day, you are trying something different. But when you start a match in a tournament like this you are a little bit nervous and you try to give your best.”

The 29-year-old will try to embrace the moment, too. It is a match like this the Spaniard has worked towards since beginning his tennis journey aged two.

Carballes Baena’s father, Pio, did not have a tennis background from a young age. But when living in London, he began to play “a lot” and then moved to Tenerife for two years. There, Pio did not work, choosing to focus on tennis. He never turned professional, but the sport became a big part of his life. Carballes Baena passed on his love for tennis to Roberto.

“After [that] I started to take some lessons and I started to play with some kids,” Carballes Baena recalled. “I liked it a lot. I wanted to play all the time. I went to school and then I went to the club and stayed all the afternoon there and that’s it.”

His passion remains with him to this day. According to his countryman Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, with whom he won an ATP Tour doubles title in 2020, his dedication shows on and off the court.

“I know him very well since a lot of years, maybe since 2015, ‘16. One thing is that he’s always very humble,” Davidovich Fokina said. “He fights a lot on court and he always wants to do more, he wants to improve every time that he practises or plays in a match or is in the gym. He’s a fighter.”

Once a boy waiting for school to end so he could play tennis, Carballes Baena has another opportunity to compete on one of the biggest stages in sports. He will play Djokovic on Tuesday evening inside Rod Laver Arena. The first time he stepped on the Melbourne centre court was after the draw came out.

“I think it’s something different,” Carballes Baena said. “Arthur Ashe was huge. When you go to the court, you see the court and you think that it’s very, very big. This one, I don’t know. It’s a little bit different.

“It’s a special match… I will try to give my best and I will try to have some chances.”