French Open 2018: Kyrgios to test his clay feet in Lyon

Nick Kyrgios will test his fitness for the French Open in a doubles match in Lyon tonight.

Nick Kyrgios has had an interrupted season.

As Nick Kyrgios prepares to test his fitness for the French Open in a doubles match in Lyon tonight, a stroke of luck has fallen the way of a compatriot due more than his fair share of good fortune.

James Duckworth was sitting in the stands, with his arm in a sling, supporting Kyrgios during a Davis Cup tie in Brisbane in ­February after another bout of misfortune.

Over the past couple of years, he has torn a tendon in his right elbow, broken a left wrist when training and then suffered a serious foot injury that forced him to miss almost the entirety of 2017.

Rafael Nadal

French Open: Men to watch

The King of Clay will once again start an odds-on favourite to land a mind-boggling 11th title in Paris having dominated on the dirt in record-setting fashion in 2018.

Alexander Zverev

French Open: Men to watch

As the only active player besides Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray boasting at least three Masters crowns, the German’s talent and potential is unquestioned but he’s yet to progress to a grand slam quarter-final.

Marin Cilic

French Open: Men to watch

The big-hitting Croat has emerged a perennial grand slam threat with appearances in the Wimbledon and Australian Open finals in the past 12 months, proving his 2014 Flushing Meadows triumph as anything but a fluke.

Juan Martin del Potro

French Open: Men to watch

The injury-prone Argentine is enjoying his best ranking in almost a decade and can’t be ignored having been a set away from the Roland Garros final once before.

Dominic Thiem

French Open: Men to watch

The Austrian enforcer proved himself the real deal on dirt with a streak-busting win over Nadal in Madrid a fortnight ago and will take a power of stopping.

Novak Djokovic

French Open: Men to watch

The Serbian superstar has been a shadow of the player who held all four grand slam titles simultaneously two years ago but finally showed signs of life with a run to the Italian Open semi-finals.

Outsider: David Goffin

French Open: Men to watch

The Belgian Davis Cup hero is on his favoured surface after joining an exclusive club of players to conquer Nadal and Federer at the same event en route to last year’s season-ending championship final.

Outsider: Stefanos Tsitsipas

French Open: Men to watch

The Greek teenage sensation almost snatched a seeding after rocketing from outside the top 200 this time last year with a series of head-turning performances on clay this season.

Aussie hope: Alex de Minaur

French Open: Men to watch

A deserving recipient of Australia’s reciprocal wildcard after almost earning direct entry through his career-high ranking. Tipped by the great Ken Rosewall as a future grand slam champion.

After claiming a Challenger title in Japan to finish 2016, he has played just four matches since and is now ranked 1070 in the world.

In a twist, Duckworth is a more certain starter at Roland Garros this year than Kyrgios, although the latter has done everything possible in recent weeks to overcome an elbow injury.

The 26-year-old boasts a protected injury ranking just outside the top 100 and earned a start yesterday when former Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic withdrew because of a knee injury.

It brings to six the number of Australian men in the field, headed by the 22nd-seeded Kyrgios.

The 23-year-old injured his elbow in the Davis Cup tie and has only played two events since, reaching the third round in Miami and the second round of a clay court event in Houston.

Dispirited by an inability to shake the niggling injury, he returned to Canberra to receive treatment.

Kyrgios trained in Rome last week as Rafael Nadal swept to a 10th title there and an outing with his friend Jack Sock in a doubles match against Federico Delbonis and Joao Sousa will provide a gauge as to his readiness for grand slam tennis.

John Millman and Matt Ebden, who have won Challenger titles over the past fortnight, are finalising their preparations at the same ATP event where Kyrgios is playing doubles.

The other direct entry is Jordan Thompson, while Alex De Minaur was gifted Australia’s reciprocal wildcard as he edges closer to breaking into the top 100.

Bernard Tomic was the last player scheduled on Court 6 at Roland Garros as qualifying began overnight with six other compatriots attempting to make the main draw.

Thanasi Kokkinakis has not played since injuring a knee in an accident in the opening round of the Madrid Masters but is among those attempting to qualify.

Australia’s leading women Ash Barty, Sam Stosur and Daria Gavrilova are all in action in Strasbourg this week, while Ajla Tomljanovic and Isabell Wallace are also in the main draw in Paris.