Kyrgios admits to ‘question marks’ on fitness for Wimbledon

Nick Kyrgios said he was almost dreading returning to top level tennis after having an extended time out to deal with a knee injury.

Nick Kyrgios during a practice session ahead of The Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on Sunday. Picture: Patrick Smith/Getty Images

Nick Kyrgios said he was almost dreading returning to top level tennis after having an extended time out to deal with a knee injury.

Kyrgios, last year’s Wimbledon finalist, said “there’s some question marks for sure” about whether he can get through successive five sets of tennis over the next fortnight, but added “I’m not going to discredit the work I’ve put in for the last six months just trying to maintain my fitness, get back on court”.

On Monday night, in the first round, Kyrgios will play Belgian David Goffin, also struggling with injury but who has been a consistent grand slam quarter-finalist and was given a wildcard by the All England Club.

Kyrgios has long made a name for himself at SW19 for swearing at umpires, throwing chairs and last year’s low, of spitting at a spectator. This year’s appearance will be the first since he admitted to mental health issues and checking himself into a psychiatric hospital after the 2019 Wimbledon tournament where he had been partying the night before a big clash against Rafa Nadal, which he lost.

He said at Wimbledon on Sunday: “It took me seven, eight years to be able to just open up about that. I kept it very close to the chest for a long time. But I think it’s important. I think a lot of athletes kind of go through that. But just general people that go through the mental struggles.

“I feel like it’s a bit better now. Especially males felt like it was kind of hard to open up, admit they were struggling.”

Kyrgios is already challenging anyone who may be critical of what he may be able to produce at Wimbledon.

Australia's Nick Kyrgios (left) holds the runner-up's trophy next to Serbia's Novak Djokovic after their men's singles final tennis match of the 2022 Wimbledon Championships. Picture: Adrian Dennis/AFP

“I think just people forget how strenuous this sport is, how physical it is. I feel like to the outside world, people don’t understand. Just because it’s not contact, it’s not that physical. I dare someone to go out there and play four hours with Novak and see how you feel afterwards. Yeah, look, I feel probably as good as I could feel at the moment.”

When asked if he missed tennis while dealing with his injury, Kyrgios remarked, “But no, I don’t miss the sport at all, to be fair. I was almost dreading coming back a little bit. But it’s my job.”

Twice he referred to his comeback as being “brutal” and once as “heartbreaking” because everyone was expecting him to be the same player straightaway, and that the injury occurred just at the point he felt everything was coming together.

“That’s been really hard,’’ he said.