Australian Nick Kyrgios pulled out of his first-round match with Britain's Andy Murray at the Winston-Salem Open due to knee pain but the 26-year-old is confident he will be fit for next week's U.S. Open Grand Slam.
Kyrgios withdrew from the ATP 250 event in North Carolina in a last-minute call, with lucky loser Noah Rubin replacing him. American Rubin lost 6-2, 6-0 to former world number one Murray.
World number 85 Kyrgios, who skipped the Tokyo Olympics because he did not want to play in front of empty stands, said he had been dealing with pain in his left knee in the last couple of weeks.
"With the U.S. Open just around the corner, I just didn't feel it was worth the risk of going out there and possibly making it worse, not giving myself the best shot to perform at the U.S. Open," Kyrgios told reporters.
"To play Andy Murray, a good friend, and tennis icon would have been amazing but I had to look after my body. And with the Grand Slam next week, I wanted to be more cautious.
"I am playing the U.S. Open 100%, it's not like I am finishing my season. I needed more time to get right... the best option today was to rest it."
The U.S. Open runs from Aug. 30 to Sept. 12 in New York.
Men's US Open odds
Novak Djokovic: -135
Daniil Medvedev: +400
Alexander Zverev: +600
Stefanos Tsitsipas: +900
Jannik Sinner: +2000
Andrey Rublev: +2200
Matteo Berrettini: +2500
Milos Raonic: +3500
Denis Shapovalov: +4000
Aslan Karatsev: +4000
Andy Murray: +4000
Felix Auger-Aliassime: +5000
Karen Khachanov: +6500
Hubert Hurkacz: +6500
Sebastian Korda: +6500
Ugo Humbert: +8000
Casper Ruud: +8000
Roberto Bautista Agut: +8000
Pablo Carreno Busta: +8000
Christian Garin: +10000
Lorenzo Musetti: +10000
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga: +10000
David Goffin: +10000
John Isner: +10000
Alex De Minaur: +10000
Grigor Dimitrov: +10000
Reilly Opelka: +10000
Diego Schwartzman: +13000
Gael Monfils: +13000
Nick Kyrgios: +13000
Odds courtesy of DraftKings
