WIMBLEDON: There are two things top players can’t get out of doing on the weekend before Wimbledon. The first is to practice on the pristine grass courts at The All England Club. The second is to face the media for the first time.
Australia’s Nick Kyrgios has never been a person to hold back when it comes to expressing his opinion about certain matters when asked to. It was at Wimbledon eight years ago when he achieved his first breakthrough in the Grand Slams by reaching the quarter-finals as a teenager. Since then, he has established himself as a controversial but formidable force on the Tour who can beat almost anybody when he is in top form. Best illustrated by the fact he has beaten a top 10 player 24 times, including every member of the Big Three.
Set to play Paul Jubb in his first round match on Tuesday, Kyrgios will also be playing in the doubles tournament alongside Thanasi Kokkinakis. The duo demonstrated their talents back in January by lifting the Australian Open title. Unlike Melbourne, Wimbledon has a different format when it comes to doubles matches with them being the best-of-five sets.
“I think it’s the stupidest thing ever, to be brutally honest. I don’t know why it’s best-of-five sets. No one wants to play best-of-five sets doubles. No one wants to watch best-of-five sets doubles,” Kyrgios said of the format.
“I’m excited, but I’m also dreading the fact that if it’s one set all, I’m going to have to be playing three more sets of doubles. So I don’t know. That’s why I haven’t played it before. It doesn’t make sense.”
The 27-year-old is currently ranked 45th in the world and has already produced promising results on the grass with back-to-back semi-final runs at tournaments in Stuttgart and Halle. In Halle, he defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets.
Besides his criticism of the doubles, Kyrgios joins a growing list of players critical of the decision to ban Russian and Belarussian players from Wimbledon this year. A move made in response to the Ukraine War. Until now those players had been allowed to play at tournaments under a neutral status. The controversial ban has resulted in the removal of ranking points from the event for the first time in the Open Era.
“I don’t think it was a good idea to ban the Russian players from playing. I think Medvedev is the best we have in our sport right now,” Kyrgios commented. “You look at some of their other players – Rublev, Khachanov – they’re important young players for our sport to continue to grow.’
“I think whenever we have cameras on and a lot of people tuning in, you want our best players to be a showcase for the sport to grow.’
“Me personally as a competitor and someone that wants to go up against them, I’m disappointed they’re not here. It’s weird not seeing Medvedev here. We all know what he’s capable of.”
Tsitsipas is out to prove a point
Similar to Kyrgios, Greek star Tsitsipas also enters Wimbledon in high spirits after recently lifting his maiden grass-court trophy at the Mallorca Open. Until that tournament, the world No.6 was yet to play a Tour final on the surface in his career.
“People have kind of doubted that I can play on grass, I think it’s fair to say. I never doubted myself. I said – I insisted, in fact – that I can play on this surface, and it remains one of my favourite surfaces that tennis has to offer. I was pretty confident about it.” He states.
In the past, it has been tough for Tsitsipas at Wimbledon where he has only managed to win three matches in four appearances. He has lost in the first round three times, including last year against Frances Tiafoe. Reflecting on that loss, he admits that two factors affected his performance. Something Tsitsipas says he has corrected this year.
“Last year was difficult for me. I didn’t play a single match before Wimbledon on grass. I was trying to play on grass like I did on clay, which was a huge mistake. Technique-wise, tactic-wise, it all fell apart.” He explains.
“For me, it’s a new start here at Wimbledon. I see myself a little bit different in terms of how I perceive this surface in particular.”
The question is how far can he go in a tournament which has been dominated by the big four since 2003?
“I got to start small first. The last two appearances I had at Wimbledon were not great. I just want to see something different. Let’s just start from that. Maybe in week two we can reevaluate things, recalibrate the focus.” Tsitsipas concludes.
Tsitsipas will play Swiss qualifier Alexander Ritschard in his opening match.
Alcaraz learning as he goes
Carlos Alcaraz has been one of the standout players so far in 2022 with him already claiming a quartet of trophies, including the Miami and Madrid Masters. At the age of 19, he has already cracked the top 10, scored back-to-back wins over Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, and earned nearly $6M in prize money alone. On The Tour this season he has impressively won 32 out of 36 matches played.
Leading up to SW16, Alcaraz’s preparation was hampered by an elbow injury that forced him out of Queen’s. He did recently play two matches at an exhibition event held at the Hurlingham Club. On Sunday at Wimbledon, he took part in a hitting session with Dan Evans. One of the players he hopes to gain useful tips from for his own development.
“I am trying to see the training (sessions) of the best players. I think he plays very well on grass. I’m trying to copy some things from the best ones,” he replied when asked about hitting with Evans.
“I always watch videos of Federer, Djokovic, Rafa, Andy as well, trying to copy the moves and stuff from them.”
Alcaraz has only played eight full Tour matches on the grass. Six of those were in 2019 when he played on the ITF junior circuit. He played two as a pro last year at Wimbledon.
“I would say I have a game that adapts well on grass, trying to go to the net, playing aggressive. I would say I’m able to play well on grass.” The Spaniard states.
“I couldn’t prepare well for Wimbledon this year, but I always come to every tournament thinking that I’m able to do a good results or even be able to win the tournament.”
In the first round, Alcaraz will play Jan-Lennard Struff.
