De Minaur on the cusp of his first Wimbledon

Emerging Australian star Alex De Minaur is on the cusp of cracking the Wimbledon field for the first time.

Australia’s Alex De Minaur is on the cusp of his first Wimbledon

As Nick Kyrgios prepares to ­return to the singles court for the first time since his aborted clay campaign, emerging star Alex De Minaur is on the cusp of cracking the Wimbledon field for the first time.

The 19-year-old broke into the top 100 for after reaching the final of a Challenger tournament in Surbiton last week, but the run has come too late to secure direct entry into Wimbledon.

The All England Club runs the only grand slam that does not have a reciprocal wildcard ­arrangement with Tennis Australia, which means De Minaur may have to run the gauntlet of qualifying to make the tournament.

But the former Wimbledon boys’ finalist has moved to within two spots of securing automatic entry due to withdrawals.

Former Australian Open ­finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and suspended match-fixer Nicolas Kicker are among five players to pull out of Wimbledon since the cut-off date for entries.

That leaves Sydneysider James Duckworth, who returns to the circuit after injury, as the next in line to earn a spot. De Minaur, who won a round in qualifying at his first attempt last year, is next.

Given the recent trend that has emerged following a change in grand slam rules related to first-round withdrawals, which encourages injured players to pull out before the draw and penalises those who take to the court and then withdraw, he is a strong chance to earn a spot. It would be his Wimbledon debut. Should De Minaur perform well at a Challenger event in Nottingham, in which he is the second seed, he remains a chance of earning an invitation based on form.

His progression into the top 100 will ensure him a start in the US Open in late August, which frees up a reciprocal wildcard spot for another Australian.

Given their early exodus from the French Open, Australia’s men and some emerging women are already preparing for the grass court major.

After a doubles outing at Surbiton, Kyrgios has an opening round bye as the fourth seed at an event in Stuttgart where Roger Federer will return to the circuit.

The Canberran said he had overcome the elbow pain that forced him to miss the European clay circuit, saying he felt in good shape in England last week.

Bernard Tomic continues to show signs of a career renaissance, having qualified for an ATP tournament in The Netherlands that also features compatriots Matt Ebden, Alex Bolt and Max Purcell. Tomic was a convincing 6-4 6-2 winner over Kevin King, who received a spot when former Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis withdrew from the tournament with injury.

Australia’s top-ranked woman Ash Barty begins her preparation for Wimbledon this week as the top seed in Nottingham and Sam Stosur has a spot in the Wimbledon main draw despite her ranking slipping outside the top 100 for the first time in a decade. The 34-year-old is ranked 103.

Ajla Tomljanovic is competing at the combined ATP and WTA tournament in The Netherlands.

Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic has confirmed he will play the grass court season.

The 12-time grand slam winner has accepted a wildcard into Queen’s, the tournament where Kyrgios will finalise his preparation for Wimbledon.

Djokovic said: “Grass is very special. It is the rarest of surfaces, so I’m happy I’ll have the opportunity to compete at (Queen’s), which will also be a great preparation for Wimbledon.’’

Former French Open finalist Sara Errani will not be at Wimbledon after authorities won an appeal to extend a doping suspension against her.

The former world No 5 initially received a two-month ban after testing positive to banned substance Letrozole, which she said she took by accident.