Jordan Thompson, who had been set to play alongside Australia's great tennis maverick in his first Roland Garros for eight years, revealed the extent of his mate's misery with Kyrgios telling him he didn't know how much more he could take after his latest setback.
"Nick was really pumped to play here. He kept messaging me every week, 'you good to go to for doubs at Roland Garros'," revealed Thompson, who had been struggling with a litany of injuries himself.
"I know he was back home in Australia training on clay, but a few days ago, Nick told me that he's done something to his knee, so unfortunately, he just couldn't be here.
"He was pretty down. He told me he doesn't know how much more of these injuries he can take, and you've just got to feel for him.
"Because as much as he says things in the media, I think he loves playing tennis and he loves being on court, so it's disappointing that he can't be here on the court."
Australia's former Wimbledon finalist Kyrgios, whose recent career has become a stop-start affair riddled with injury concerns, had declared happily only a couple of weeks ago that he would reunite with Thompson, whose regular doubles partner Max Purcell is serving a ban for infringing doping regulations.
The pair had played as juniors, finishing runners-up in the 2012 US Open.
But when the draw was announced on Monday, it was confirmed Thompson would line up instead alongside fellow Aussie Jason Kubler for a first-round match on Tuesday against French pair Quentin Halys and Albano Olivetti.
Kyrgios will be at Roland Garros, where he last competed in 2017 while reaching the second round, but only off-court as a TV commentator, as he increasingly turns his attention to media opportunities with time seemingly running out to resurrect his career at the age of 30.
"Yeah. I'm hoping that he can play, but it just depends on how his knee is," said Thompson.
Kyrgios, who's been plagued by knee and foot injuries and had reconstructive surgery on his racquet-wielding wrist, thought there was some light at the end of the tunnel when he won his first singles match for two-and-a-half years against American Mackenzie McDonald in Miami in March.
