Fresh off his Wimbledon final loss, Nick Kyrgios has withdrawn from the singles draw at the Atlanta Open citing injury.

The world No.47, who fell to Novak Djokovic in the decider of the grass-court major earlier this month, was slated to play German Peter Gojowczyk before pulling out on Tuesday.

Believed to be dealing with a knee injury, Kyrgios said he may still be available to continue in the doubles with fellow Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis.

He struggled with a shoulder issue through Wimbledon.

Kyrgios, who won the Atlanta tournament in 2016, addressed the crowd to explain his absence, with Frenchman Adrian Mannarino taking his place in the draw and then defeating Gojowczyk 6-3 7-6 (9-7).

“I’m extremely shattered that I’m not able to compete tonight,” the 27-year-old Canberran said.

“I’ve won this tournament once and am probably playing some of the best tennis of my career and all I wanted to do was come out here and give you guys a show.

“I’m not able to give out my best performance and I’m extremely sorry and I’m going to keep my hopes up that I may be able to continue doubles with Thanasi.

“I hope you won’t be too hard on me … I love you guys and hopefully next year I will be able to compete and give it my all.”

Kyrgios and Kokkinakis, who won this year’s Australian Open doubles, won their first-round encounter against French pairing Nicholas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin in Atlanta.

In other singles action on Tuesday, Australia’s James Duckworth opened his campaign with a 6-1 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 win over German qualifier Dominik Koepfer to set up a round-of-16 meeting with compatriot Alex de Minaur.

Fifth seed Tommy Paul beat fellow American Jack Sock 6-1 6-1 while another home favourite in sixth-seeded Jenson Brooksby defeated Frenchman Benoit Paire 6-3 6-1.