Nick Kyrgios’ Wimbledon campaign lasted barely an hour and Venus Williams burst into tears when questioned over her involvement in a fatal car crash on a dramatic opening day at the All-England Club.

A shattered Kyrgios was trailing world No 70 Pierre-Hugues Herbert of France after two sets when he retired hurt and departed the tournament.

Before Wimbledon, the 20th-ranked Kyrgios conceded he was only “60, 65 per cent” fit after aggravating the long-standing hip injury during an on-court fall at the Queen’s Club lead-up event a fortnight ago.

The writing was on the wall from the moment the 22-year-old stepped on court Monday night, his forlorn body language and restricted movement depicting a player not equipped to go the distance.

And he didn’t, calling it quits after 65 minutes when trailing 6-3 6-4.

Nick Kyrgios was treated on the court the end of the second set, before retiring, Photo: Getty

Despite the same injury forcing him to walk away from his third-round encounter at last year’s US Open and hampering him at last month’s French Open, Kyrgios is reluctant to consider surgery.

“Probably not at the moment. I got too much stuff going on,” said Kyrgios, who is planning on pressing ahead with plans to contest the American hardcourt season, including the US Open before spearheading Australia’s Davis Cup semi-final in September in Belgium.

“I don’t think anyone wants to go down the surgery route. I had it right after Paris. I wasn’t feeling it at all.

“When I initially got on the grass, I wasn’t feeling my hip at all.

“The first set (at Queen’s) when I played against Donald Young, it was fine. I couldn’t feel anything.

“I was playing great. I was feeling good. Then it just all got taken away pretty quickly.”

Venus’ emotional breakdown

A distraught Venus Williams broke down in tears during a remarkable press conference after her 7-6, 6-4 win over young Belgian Elise Mertens on Tuesday morning (AEST).

Five-time Wimbledon winner Williams gave a series of vague responses when asked about her emotional state following the car smash in Florida last month that resulted in the death of a 78-year-old man.

The man’s family have filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the 37-year-old Wiliams, saying his death was the result of her negligence – and the enormity of the incident was clearly playing on the mind of the usually loquacious American.

The incident overshadowed Williams’ 20th appearance in the first round of the Tournament.

Watch her emotional media conference below:

“I prepared for a lot of matches, tried to get ready for whatever my opponent will throw at you, but you can’t prepare for everything,” she said when asked about how she was dealing with the fallout from the crash.

But when quizzed about her Facebook posting, where the former world No.1 detailed her sense of devastation over the man’s death, Williams struggled to speak.

“There are really no words to describe, like, how devastating and – yeah. I’m completely speechless,” she said before tearing up.

Williams then looked away in an attempt to compose herself, leaving the room silent for almost two minutes, before she was escorted away by an All England Club official.

Kyrgios rules out surgery

A Wimbledon quarter-finalist on debut in 2014, Kyrgios’s exit will also likely precipitate a further rankings fall after he had soared to a career-high 13th late last year and then opened 2017 with a blazing run on US hard courts.

Kyrgios laboured through the opening set, dropping serve in the eighth game with his second double-fault before the Frenchman took it after only 26 minutes with an easy love hold.

The Australian continued to play hit-and-miss tennis in the second set and didn’t even bother attempting to reach some of Herbert’s winners.

He dropped serve for a second time when, facing break point, he was unable to move forward to retrieve a short return.

He hung his head in his towel at the changeover, then wiped away tears as he returned to the court.

The next changeover, when clearly resigned to his fate, Kyrgios whacked his racquet against the net post before again wallowing in his chair.

The crestfallen Canberran called for treatment after going two sets down before finally conceding defeat.

– With AAP