Marin Cilic: 'Devastated' tennis star withdraws from 2023 Australian Open due to injury ahead of main draw
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Updated 11/01/2023 at 10:17 GMT
Marin Cilic made the Australian Open final in 2018, losing to Roger Federer in three sets. The 34-year-old will not have another shot at winning the Grand Slam this month after he withdrew. Cilic says he is "devastated" to miss out but that "health comes first". The former US Open champion also withdrew ahead of his quarter-final at the Maharashtra Open earlier in January.
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Former finalist Marin Cilic has withdrawn from the 2023 Australian Open due to injury.
Cilic, 34, was a runner-up in Melbourne in 2018 when he lost to Roger Federer in the final.
But he will not be back for another shot at the Grand Slam this month .
“Not a great start to 2023 and few tough days in Melbourne,” he wrote on Twitter.
“Devastated I can't play this year at the Australian Open but health comes first. See you next year Melbourne!”
Cilic started his season at the Maharashtra Open in India but withdrew ahead of his quarter-final against Tallon Griekspoor.
He said in a statement at the time: “Hey guys, very sorry that I couldn’t come out again today to compete. Today during the warm-up I injured my knee and unfortunately it didn’t get better until I was about to go out on the court.”
Former US Open champion Cilic has not made it past the fourth round of the Australian Open since reaching the final in 2018.
He was set to be the 17th seed at the tournament.
The draw takes place on Thursday and you can stream and watch it for free on the Eurosport app, discovery+ and eurosport.com.
Speaking at the Maharashtra Open, Cilic said he is still motivated to achieve more career success.
“This later part of my career, I still have that enthusiasm, that motivation to keep going," he said.
“Not to say, 'a couple more years and I’m fine'. I’m feeling really motivated to do something great.”
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Stream the 2023 Australian Open live on discovery+ and eurosport.co.uk
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