The Australian Open was dealt a major blow when a "devastated" Nick Kyrgios announced his withdrawal ahead of his scheduled first-round match on Tuesday.
The Australian number one, considered one of the favourites after reaching his first grand slam singles final at Wimbledon last summer, had not played a warm-up event because of a knee injury.
He contested a charity match against Novak Djokovic on Friday and did not indicate his participation was in doubt, but he called an impromptu press conference on Monday afternoon.
