Australian No.1 Nick Kyrgios admits that he will be putting ‘pressure on himself’ going into the upcoming Wimbledon Championships.
The 23-year-old is seeking to make up for his performance at the All-England Club 12 months ago. Hampered by injury, Kyrgios was forced to retire during his first round match against Pierre Hugues-Herbert. Making it his worst performance at the grand slam since making his main draw debut. It was at Wimbledon, where the Australian scored his first major breakthrough by reaching the quarter-finals at the age of 19 in 2014.
“I’m expecting to do well at Wimbledon. I’ll be putting pressure on myself, like I always do but with a slightly different mindset having missed out so much this year.” Kyrgios wrote for The Players Voice.
Similar to 2017, Kyrgios has not been free of injury leading up to the grass-court major. An elbow injury cut short his clay-court season and forced him out of the French Open. He returned to action in the singles earlier this month with a run to the semi-finals of the Stuttgart Open. Losing to eventual champion Roger Federer. A week later a similar trend occurred at Queen’s where he reached the last four once again before losing to Marin Cilic, who went on to win the title.
“I’m feeling good coming into Wimbledon. I had a good run in Stuttgart, which finished in a tough three-setter – including two tie-breaks – against Roger Federer in the semi-final. And since then I’ve had a few good wins against Andy Murray, Kyle Edmund and Feliciano Lopez to get to the semis at Queen’s and teamed up with Lleyton Hewitt in the doubles, which was heaps of fun.” Reflected Kyrgios.
Kyrgios is currently playing at The Boodles Exhibition event. On Wednesday he scored his latest win on the grass by defeating Wimbledon semi-finalist Sam Querrey in straight sets. Despite the positive indications, the Australian is refusing to get too far ahead of himself. Setting out a goal for this season of finishing it injury-free.
“I also know I’m just coming back and it might take some time to get back to my peak. I’m not thinking too far ahead at this stage.” He said.
“I’m just looking forward to getting back out on court, enjoying my tennis and seeing how far I can go this grass court season.”
The Wimbledon Championships will get underway on Monday. Kyrgios will be seeded 16th in the draw.
