Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios has reportedly withdrawn from the French Open after failing to recover in time for the tournament following knee surgery, according to media reports.

Kyrgios missed the Australian Open earlier this year due to the knee injury.

He last played an official tournament in October and underwent surgery in January.

The Australian, however, remains keen to play at Wimbledon, where he reached his maiden grand slam final last year, according to the reports.

The French Open runs from May 22 to June 11.

It’s still unclear whether defending champion Rafael Nadal will compete following a hip injury he suffered at the Australian Open.

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Djokovic into quarters

The news comes as Novak Djokovic reached the Italian Open quarter-finals for the 17th straight year.

Djokovic was in command from the start and never really let up in a 6-3 6-4 win over 13th-seeded Cameron Norrie.

Aiming for his seventh title on the red clay of the Foro Italico, Djokovic had his entire game clicking after struggling at times in the previous rounds.

On an overcast day after it had rained all morning, Djokovic appeared focused from the start.

“I actually finished my warm-up 10 minutes before I went on the court. So I was rushing a bit with everything but we couldn’t (warm up) earlier because of the rain,” Djokovic said.

“So I’m just glad to overcome today’s challenge in straight sets and move on.”

Also, Djokovic was seen in the trainer’s room before the match.

He recently took three weeks off because of a lingering issue with his surgically repaired right elbow.

“Every day is something,” the 35-year-old Djokovic said, without specifying what was bothering him.

“But thankfully I was able to play and finish the match, so hopefully tomorrow it will feel a bit better.”

Djokovic committed less half as many unforced errors as Norrie, 14-29; and had two more winners, 21-19.

Norrie won a title on clay in Rio de Janeiro earlier this year, beating Carlos Alcaraz in the final.

Djokovic will lose the No.1 ranking to Alcaraz after this tournament even though Alcaraz was beaten by 135th-ranked Hungarian qualifier Fabian Marozsan in the third round on Monday.

Alcaraz will be seeded No.1 and Djokovic No.2 at the French Open, which starts in 12 days.

Djokovic will next face either seventh-seeded Holger Rune or Australian qualifier Alexei Popyrin.

-DPA and AP