Potential Kyrgios-Djokovic rematch awaits as Aussies cop ‘brutal’ Wimbledon draw
Nick Kyrgios could face Novak Djokovic in a tantalising rematch, but the Aussie men have a tough road ahead at Wimbledon.
Tennis
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A rematch of last year’s Wimbledon final between Novak Djokovic and Nick Kyrgios awaits if the Aussie star can make it through the first week of the grand slam.
Kyrgios missed the Australian and French Opens with injury and won’t have any match practice on grass before he plays his first round match against Belgian veteran David Goffin at the All England Club.
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The 28-year-old has been dealt a tough hand at Wimbledon, drawn to face Russian seventh seed Andrey Rublev in the third round and Djokovic in the quarterfinals, if he makes it that far.
Alex de Minaur is Australia’s top seeded player but has a similarly tough draw.
He will play qualifier Kimmer Coppejans in the first round, but could face against Alexander Zverev in the third round and top seed Carlos Alcaraz in the round of 16.
De Minaur has been in great form on grass but after losing to Alcaraz in the Queens’ Club final, it’s hard to see an Aussie making the second week at Wimbledon.
Tennis reporter Marc McGowan tweeted: “First impressions? Brutal draw for the Australian men. Both Kyrgios and de Minaur are going to have to do something special to go beyond R4.”
Thanasi Kokkinakis failed to make it through qualifying, so he won’t feature in the Wimbledon main draw after making the third round of the French Open.
There are only two Australian women in the singles draw at Wimbledon after Ajla Tomljanovic was forced to withdraw from her third grand slam of the year with injury.
Storm Hunter will play Xinyu Wang, while in an interesting coincidence, Daria Saville will take on local British hope Katie Boulter, who happens to be Alex de Minaur’s girlfriend.
Meanwhile, World No. 1 Iga Swiatek suffered a Wimbledon scare on Friday when she was forced to withdraw from her Bad Homburg semi-final with suspected food poisoning.
“I’m so sorry but I have to pull out of my match today. I had a restless night because of some fever and possible food poisoning,” the Polish star wrote on social media.
“I’m not able to perform today and I need to take care of myself. I hope I’ll be fine soon.
The 22-year-old will now focus on recovering in time to play at Wimbledon which gets underway on Monday.
Swiatek is due to face China’s Zhu Lin in the first round at the All England Club where she has yet to get past the last 16.
Australians’ 1st round Wimbledon matches
Men
Alex de Minaur (15) vs K Coppejans (Q)
Chris O’Connell vs H Medjedovic (Q)
Alexei Popyrin vs Dom Stricker
Aleks Vukic vs D Altmaier
Max Purcell vs Andrey Rublev (7)
Nick Kyrgios (30) vs D Goffin (WC)
Jordan Thompson v Brandon Nakashima
Women
Storm Hunter vs Xinyu Wang
Daria Saville vs Katie Boulter
With AFP
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