Tennis: Aussie star Nick Kyrgios pulls out of French Open 2023 with knee injury

With not even a week left for the commencement of the French Open 2023 edition, Australian star Nick Kyrgios has withdrawn from the upcoming edition due to the same knee injury that kept him out of the Australian Open early this year, in January. Kyrgios is yet to make his debut in the 2023 season. He had undergone surgery in January for a knee injury and was out of action from all thethree ATP 1000 clay-court events prior to the Roland Garros.

"It's not looking likely. We are trying everything we can to have Nick ready on court as soon as possible," Kyrgios's agent Daniel Horsfall said earlier on Tuesday. This comes as a huge blow to the organisers as the Aussie star is easily one of the top players who often make heads turn on the court. He had a stellar run in the 2022 season where he also reached his first-ever Grand Slam final, during Wimbledon 2022.

Meanwhile, defending champion Rafael Nadal's fitness update is keenly awaited as the 14-time French Open winner has been out of action for quite long due to his hip injury, forcing him to miss the Indian Wells, Italian Open and Madrid Open.

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Increase in prize money in French Open

Ahead of this year's French Open, the organisers revealed of increasing the prize money; with an increase of 12.3 percent from last year's edition.There has been a considerable hike in the prize money for first-round losers in the women's and men's singles draws, amounts awarded in the qualifying, wheelchair tennis and quad competitions.

Overall, the prize money for the singles draws is set to witness a rise of 9.1 percent whereas the losers in the first three rounds will also walk away with 11 to 13 percent more.