Nick Kyrgios heads to Wimbledon in time to make Novak Djokovic twitch

Nick Kyrgios heads to Wimbledon unbeaten against the greatest player in history, and with the weapons to match. It simply baffles his bitter rival.

World No.68 Nick Kyrgios has an unbeaten record against Novak Djokovic Picture: Getty Images

Nick Kyrgios departs Australia on Wednesday for Wimbledon. No hurry, of course. Matches start on Monday.

Leave it any later and he’d be running through the gates of the All England Club while still putting on his shoes, rummaging through his suitcase for a white shirt, skulling a Pimms for the purpose of hydration, carb-loading on strawberries and cream and asking Tim Henman if he can borrow a racquet for his first-round assignment.

And then Kyrgios will be off to the Olympics, as things presently stand, sneaking into the Australian team by the skin of his teeth.

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Kyrgios was in the middle of an almighty stink with former AOC chef de mission Kitty Chiller when he pulled the pin on the Rio Games, but he’s willing to whip on the green and gold tracksuit this time.

His world ranking has fallen to world No.68 but the wild thing remains the third-highest Australian male behind Alex de Minaur and John Millman, and so off to Tokyo he goes. Australia’s Olympic tennis line-up will likely be confirmed next week.

By the time Kyrgios gets to London on Thursday, has a snooze, wrestles his jet lag and gets a local SIM card, he may just be able to squeeze in a couple of hits on the weekend.

It’s the sort of sparse last-minute preparation that social players employ for their local club championships. But we understand Kyrgios better these days, and it’s pointless to harp about his fluctuating commitment and unreliable physique.

He’s nothing if not fascinating, with no real interest in grinding out a full schedule to become the world number one.

Nor does he share the tour-wide obsession with winning majors, simply turning up at majors like a bloke arriving in Vegas for a weekend at the casinos. May as well roll the dice, et cetera. Cat, pigeons.

Kyrgios has a crack when the mood strikes him, blessed with enough natural talent, serving prowess and forehand power to take it to anyone in the world. It’s baffling. Extraordinary. And oh-so interesting.

He’s beaten Roger Federer. He’s thrice beaten Rafael Nadal. And he’s won his only two matches against Djokovic. It’s funny, really. Kyrgios has a 2-0 record against arguably the greatest player in history, and they cannot stand each other.

Djokovic thinks of Kyrgios like the police chief Dreyfus thinks of Inspector Clouseau in Return of the Pink Panther. One minute he’s banging his desk and shouting, “Idiot!” The next, he’s reaching for the cigarettes and wondering why on earth he cannot get the better of him.

Please, tennis gods, throw them into a first-round when the Wimbledon draw comes out this week. Or at least pit Kyrgios against Bernie Tomic, if Tomic survives the qualifying event at Roehampton.

Don’t gamble responsibly on it. He’s the world No. 224 because he deserves to be. He lost to a 16-year-old ranked 1035 in the first round of French Open qualifying, so you wouldn’t be expecting him to earn a golden ticket to The All England Club.

His best run at a major, his Wimbledon quarter-final as an 18-year-old in 2011, when he took a set from Djokovic and gave him an almighty fright, started from qualifying, so you never know.

If any court suits him these days, it’s a grass court. But Tomic really does look to have reached the point of no return.

He’s 28 years of age, still relatively young, but he’s struggling to win matches on the second-tier Challenger Tour, let alone make a mark at majors.

When the 24-year-old Djokovic snuck past him in 2011, the Serb had a mere two majors to his name. Tomic was not far behind him as a player; he could have won that quarter-final. Djokovic has racked up 17 slams since then while Tomic, of course, is yet to bother the scorers.

Now Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from Wimbledon and Roger Federer is clearly on his last legs, too knackered to finish the French Open and too old to beat young Felix Auger-Aliassime at Halle, there’s only one thing that will be making Djokovic twitchy ahead of this week’s draw at The All England Club.

The possibility of a first-rounder against the unseeded Kyrgios, the very epitome of a dangerous floater. The wildcard of Wimbledon hasn’t played since the Australian Open, and he’s appeared at only a handful of tournaments in the last two years, but he’s a carefree showman suited to the grass. Match-starved, with a sore neck and shoulder in recent weeks, he’ll likely play like a donkey if he’s drawn against a donkey.

But he’ll find a way to play like a superstar if he’s drawn against a superstar, enough to make Djokovic a little twitchy ahead of the return of a real-life pink panther.