Citing injury, Australian Nick Kyrgios withdraws from New York Open

The exciting and sometimes volatile Nick Kyrgios, who likely would have been the New York Open's biggest draw, informed organizers late Friday night he was pulling out of the tournament because of a shoulder injury.

The Australian, highly talented but known as much for his fits of profane anger, would have been the tournament's No. 2 seed when main draw play begins on Monday at NYCB Live's Nassau Coliseum.

"We reached out to his agent earlier in the week to see if things were okay and they appeared to be," said tournament director Peter Lebedevs. "But we got a call from the agent on Friday and he said that Nick had woken up with a sore shoulder and it was not getting better. He had an issue with it during the Australian Open.

"I know he was looking forward to playing on the black courts and being in New York and we were certainly excited to have him in the field," added Lebedevs. "So we just hope we'll be able to get him back next year."

John Isner is the tournament's No. 1 seed. First-time participant Milos Raonic is the second, defending champion Reilly Opelka is the third and France's up and coming Ugo Humbert is the fourth. The top four seeds get byes in the first round.