Nick Kyrgios received some flak last week when he pulled out of ATP Atlanta, a 250-level tournament in America's south. Kyrgios was spotted playing some mixed-league basketball in Australia shortly after withdrawing and that had some, perhaps unfairly, wondering how serious his injury was. However, when top players lose to guys that are outside of the top 100 it usually, but not always, means that they are injured. On Wednesday, Kyrgios was in the second round at the 2017 Citi Open and down 3-6, 0-3, before he forfeited the match against Tennys Sandgren.

The Aussie was seen receiving shoulder treatment prior to pulling out.

For Sandgren the win via forfeit actually opens up a career opportunity. He entered this week ranked 106th in the world and the Citi Open is a very meaningful tournament for someone ranked that low. When he enters round three against Alexander Zverev, Sandgren will be playing for a spot well within the top 100 on tour with further hopes in the draw. However, it's likely that the Kyrgios injury just opened the door for Zverev to have a successful tournament. The German won't have to beat the 10th-seeded Kyrgios to get into the quarterfinals now. After struggling against Jordan Thompson in the 2nd round, that might be a blessing for Zverev.

Rogers Cup in jeopardy?

For Kyrgios the fact that he withdrew from Washington's 2nd round as a follow-up to skipping Atlanta last week puts a question mark on the upcoming bigger tournaments. The 2017 Rogers Cup is next week in Montreal, the site of one of Kyrgios' biggest fiascos. Tennis fans will remember his on-court behavior from 2015 in Montreal where he spoke openly about his opponent's girlfriend's sex life during a match.

Kyrgios can't be looking forward to going there, maybe partly because of that (the Canadian Masters were in Toronto last year). With an injury that he could credibly blame, tennis fans will have to wait and see what Kyrgios does next.

The tournament did take a hit earlier on Wednesday when Stan Wawrinka pulled out of the event.

However, on Tuesday Roger Federer confirmed his participation. This year's event in Montreal certainly will have some hype attached to it as the World No. 1 ranking will be on the line. Rafael Nadal, with the right double-result involving him and Andy Murray, could end up as the top-ranked player in the August 14th rankings for the first time in over three years.

2nd round recap from Washington

Other results from Washington's 2nd round saw Dominic Thiem, Kei Nishikori, Grigor Dimitrov, and Milos Raonic all advance. The defending champion, Gael Monfils, went out to Yuki Bhambri and Lucas Pouille also went out. Thiem picked up a very nice draw to the semifinals with Monfils going out and he looks like a threat to make the final this week.
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