Nick Kyrgios will turn his attention to greener pastures, after withdrawing from the French Open for the second straight year, just days after claiming the Paris Grand Slam "sucked" in a social-media video.
The polarising Australian was defaulted after an on-court outburst in Rome last week, before hitting with Andy Murray at Wimbledon in preparation for that tournament.
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But he won't line up at Roland Garros, after announcing his withdrawal on Friday, due to illness.
Britain's Cameron Norrie, his scheduled first-round opponent, will play French 'lucky loser' Elliot Benchetrit instead.
Kyrgios, the world number 26, played just two complete matches on clay all season - winning one, losing one and defaulting from the other - with his next booked appearance at The Queen's Club ahead of Wimbledon in July.
Kyrgios has made no secret of his disdain for the slower clay conditions, taking to Instagram last week, while walking through Wimbledon's famed grass court complex, saying: "The French Open sucks compared to this place. Sucks. Absolute sucks."
Last year, he pulled the pin in Paris, as he chased respite from a nagging elbow injury, but other than his online grumbles, there were no suggestions that the 24-year-old wouldn't line up at this year's event, until his announcement on Friday.
His withdrawal ends a brief, but eventful clay swing that earned headlines off the court for his frank assessment of Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in an interview on the NCR podcast.
He took aim at Djokovic's "cringeworthy" post-match celebrations and Rafael Nadal's "super salty" double standards, while also slamming "God's gift" Fernando Verdasco.
That interview was sandwiched between an impressive defeat of Daniil Medvedev and his default to Casper Rudd at the Italian Open, while he was also bundled out of the Madrid Open in the first round.
His red-dirt blip followed a charmed run on American hard courts, highlighted by a title in Acapulco that featured wins over Rafael Nadal, Stan Wawrinka and Alexander Zverev.
AAP
