Australia’s Nick Kyrgios returns to the Wimbledon Championships with a growing maturity and the belief that he will be a danger to many of his peers when it comes to playing on the grass.
It is the first time in 18 months that the former top 20 player have travelled abroad to play a professional tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During that period, the only events he played was the Murray River Open and Australian Open, which both took place at Melbourne Park earlier this year. Despite his lack of match play, Kyrgios is keeping quietly confident about his chances.
“I feel decent after not playing a match in however long. That time at home was amazing,” he told reporters on Saturday.
“I felt that Wimbledon is an event that I never take for granted if I can play it.’
“I can’t expect myself to play my best tennis as I did a couple years ago. So I’m not putting too much pressure of expectation on myself. Generally, I feel really good.”
In his first round match Kyrgios faces a stern challenge against France’s Ugo Humbert at Wimbledon. The 22-year-old is currently at a ranking high of 25th in the world and recently won his third ATP title in Halle, Germany. In Halle, Humbert scored wins over Alexander Zverev and Andrey Rublev.
The rise of the Frenchman has been hailed by his opponent who believes he has the ability to ‘do some special things’ on the court. Although Kyrgios isn’t going to exit the tournament without a fight.
“I feel that I can beat 50% of the draw on grass without much preparation,” he said.
“Ugo has been playing some incredible tennis. I played a lot of players and I’m tactically switched on, and he’s got the game to do some special things in this sport.’
“He is a very good grass court player – He’s got a very good serve, very good backhand for a lefty and good volley. It’s going to be tough.”
Singles will not be the only focus for the 26-year-old at The All England Club. He will also partner up with Venus Williams to play in the mixed doubles for the first time in his career. Jokingly branding their partnership ‘the mixed doubles team of the tournament.’
Due to a series of high-profile incidents he has been involved in, Kyrgios remains one of the most well known names in the sport. The absence of fans during his time away from the Tour is one of the biggest things he has missed.
“It’s ironic. At the start of my career it was like I was a disgrace to the game. All this kind of bulls***. Now it’s like every time I touch a court it’s fully packed and I’m always on the tennis social media,” he commented.
Beyond Wimbledon, the world No.61 has shed light on his plans. He will spend some time in the Bahamas before playing in North America leading up to the US Open. Then he plans to play the Laver Cup followed by an exhibition match in Chile against Marcelo Rios.
