Nick Kyrgios appears in doubt for the Australian Open after pulling out of the Sydney Tennis Classic, his second tournament withdrawal in the space of a week.
Kyrgios was scheduled to play Italian firebrand Fabio Fognini on Monday night but his withdrawal was announced via the tournament entry list.
The 26-year-old previously withdrew from the Melbourne Summer Set with asthma and if he does feature at the Australian Open, will do so without playing competitively since September.
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Multiple reports have confirmed that Kyrigos has contracted COVID-19 with his Australian Open campaign now in serious doubt.
Now ranked 114 in the world, Kyrigos was cleared of COVID-19 early Monday after pulling out for the Sydney Classic, but later confirmed he had contracted the virus.
The Australian Open begins on January 17, giving him just a week to recover and be cleared to return.
Meanwhile, world No.1 woman Ash Barty has pulled out of the Sydney Tennis Classic to focus on her Australian Open preparation.
Australia's all-conquering world No.1 on Monday withdrew from the Sydney Tennis Classic to head straight to Melbourne to fine-tune for the Open.
Barty completed a flawless start to her 2022 season with a rare title double in Adelaide on Sunday, adding the doubles trophy with Storm Sanders to a second singles crown in the South Australian capital in three years.
Australia's big Open hope says seven matches lasting nine hours and three minutes in total - having not played since the 2021 US Open in September - was ample court time heading into the year's first major starting next Monday.
Barty was super impressive in collecting her 14th career title in Adelaide, improving her record over top-20 rivals to 17-1 since the start of last year with successive wins over 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin, Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina.
But as well as a fighting three-set win over Coco Gauff in her tournament opener, Barty wants a rest.
The world No.1's domination of her rivals in Adelaide had former Wimbledon semi-finalist turned commentator Jelena Dokic declaring she'd never seen Barty better prepared for an Australian Open.
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