Madrid, Spain, 5 May 2017 | AAP

Nick Kyrgios’ French Open preparations will start in Madrid after taking a break from tennis due to the death of his grandfather.

The Australian pulled out of the Millennium Open in Estoril, Portugal, where he was the top seed and a semifinalist last year on clay.

Kyrgios, ranked 17 in the world, instead flew home to Canberra to attend his grandfather’s funeral.

Ahead of the Madrid Open next week, he posted on Instagram a video of him doing a ‘tweener’ shot at last year’s event against Kei Nishikori.

“Let’s see if we can get it going, Madrid here we come,” Kyrgios wrote.

Madrid will be his first event on clay this year ahead of the French Open starting on 22 May.

He reached the quarterfinals of the Spanish event last year where he was beaten by Nishikori in three sets.

The 22-year-old last played in Australia’s Davis Cup triumph over the United States in the quarterfinals last month in Brisbane, where he beat Sam Querrey and John Isner.

Before that he reached the semifinals of the Miami Open, where he lost to world No.4 Roger Federer.