Nick Kyrgios believes he will be a contender at the Wimbledon Championships as he continues to cope with a hip injury.
The Australian world No.20 was hindered by the issue throughout the clay-court season. At the recent Aegon Championships, the hip pain return after he suffered an awkward slip during his first round match against Donald Young. The issue resulted in him retiring from that match.
Kyrgios returned to action earlier in the week at the Boodles Challenge, an exhibition event hosted at Stoke Park in Buckinghamshire. At the event, he enjoyed wins over Philipp Kohlschreiber and Viktor Troicki. Despite the duo of victories, Kyrgios is remaining cautious about his current fitness.
“It’s not great. I played a couple of matches at Boodles (exhibition) the last couple of days to see where I was at and it’s definitely not 100 percent,” he told Fox Sports.
Providing a realistic assessment about his current game, the 21-year-old believes he is roughly ‘60-65%’ fit. Still, Kyrgios believes he has the ability to challenge the world’s best at Wimbledon on his favourite surface. The Australian is a former quarter-finalist at SW19 and is yet to lose before the fourth round of the tournament.
“I’m still gonna obviously feel confident on the grass,” he explained.
“I can serve well and still be successful but, at the same time, it’s not where I’d like my body to be.”
Hip injuries have troubled Kyrgios in recent months. Last year he was forced to withdraw from the US Open due to the issue. Speaking about the ongoing problem with Fox Sports. He reluctantly admitted that surgery was an option if everything else fails to work.
“I guess long-term (surgery is an option), but you can avoid it if you do the right things,” he said.
“I was doing everything perfect after Paris. I was in the right spot, I wasn’t feeling it at all.”
Dominic Thiem backing
Regardless of Kyrgios’ physical struggles, he has received the backing of Austria’s Dominic Thiem. Thiem, who is seeded eighth in the tournament, believes his opponent has the ability to win the Wimbledon title.
“If you play Nick Kyrgios or guys like this, when they have a good day, there’s nothing you can do on grass. ‘If he plays well or if he plays well for two weeks, I think he can go all the way here. I think he’s beaten everybody as well except Murray,” he said.
This season Kyrgios has defeated Novak Djokovic twice and reached the semifinals of the Miami Open. On the other hand, he is yet to reach a tour final in 2017 and is yet to progress beyond the quarter-final stage at any grand slam tournament.
Kyrgios will begin his Wimbledon bid against French doubles specialist Pierre-Hugues Herbert.
