After withdrawing from tournaments in Estoril and Madrid, Nick Kyrgios faces a race against time to be ready for the French Open.
Last week the world No.25 returned home follow the recurrence of an elbow injury that has bothered him since the Davis Cup. In a statement Kyrgios confirmed that he is suffering from Posterior Impingement and Ulnar Nerve Irritation. A condition where a certain nerve in the arm is either compressed or irritated. He has since received a corticosteroid injection to help reduce the inflammation.
It remains unclear as to when the Australian will return to action, but it is 50-50 if he will appear in Roland Garros. A tournament where he made his grand slam debut back in 2012 and hasn’t missed an edition since. Tennis Australia performance director, Wally Mansur, has confirmed that Kyrgios will meet Lleyton Hewitt on Tuesday to discuss ‘his next steps.’ He is also set to hold discussions with Davis Cup coach Jason Stoltenberg.
“No matter what player, if they’re going to play their best tennis, it’s with a volume of matches under their belt,” Masur told The Australian Associated Press.
“Because then the big points don’t matter as much — they can play at a more subconscious level. The game seems to get easier when you’re confident.
“So the match is the top of the pyramid. It’s all the training underneath.
“So to serve at Nick’s pace for best-of-five-sets, the prior month you’ve got to hit a lot of serves, otherwise you’re shoulder will fall off as well as your elbow.”
Kyrgios will be aiming to get back to full fitness in time for the grass season. It was on the surface where he made his first breakthrough by reaching the quarterfinals of the 2014 Wimbledon Championships. On the other hand, he is yet to feature in an ATP final on the grass.
Despite his recent injury misfortunes, Mansur has backed the 22-year-old to get swiftly back on track. After missing a series of tournaments, the Australian reached the third round of the Miami Open on his return. More recently, he was also a quarter-finalist at the US Men’s clay court championships in Houston.
“There’s probably not many (players) on tour that can do it like him,” he explained about the Australian No.1.
“Even in Miami (last month), he had barely played and he rocks into Miami and, bang’, he’s smoking guys and he’s not far off the pace.”
Should he miss the entire clay swing, Kyrgios risk exiting the world’s top 30 for the first time since February 2016.
