Tallahassee, FL, USA, 29 April 2014 | tennis.com.au

Nick Kyrgios has been forced to take the good with the bad this week, hitting a career-high ATP ranking shortly before withdrawing from the Tallahassee Challenger in Florida.

The 19-year-old surged 19 spots to world No.152 following his victory in the final of the Savannah Challenger in Georgia, his 10th consecutive match win after triumphing at the Sarasota Challenger the week prior.

> see where the other Aussie men stand in the latest ATP rankings

His performances on the green clay of the southeastern United States has seen him slash his ranking by almost 70 places in the past fortnight.

Yet the heavy workload has taken its toll; Kyrgios suffered a muscle strain in the Savannah final against Jack Sock, an ailment prompting his withdrawal from the Tallahassee event.

“It’s unfortunate. I’ve had a really good couple of weeks playing well and I was really excited to play here. I have a bit of an abductor strain so I’m not going to force it too much. I’ll be hanging out and watching the tournament for the next couple of days,” he said.

“I want to get healthy again for the French Open. I’m just going to relax a bit and get to the gym if I can. There are a couple of Aussies playing, so I’ll get behind them.”

Those Aussies include Thanasi Kokkinakis, Jason Kubler and Ryan Agar, the latter having qualified after two straight-set victories.

> visit the Tallahassee Challenger official website

The French Open was the site of Kyrgios’ breakthrough in 2013, where as a wildcard ranked 262nd, he upended former world No.8 Radek Stepanek in straight sets.