LONDON — Nick Kyrgios admits there are “question marks” over how his body will hold up at Wimbledon but last year’s finalist says he is excited to be back at the championships and ready for his first-round match.
Kyrgios has played just one singles match since November after spending time out this year with a knee injury. That injury and the resulting surgery saw him miss both the Australian Open and French Open but he says he’s fit to face David Goffin in the opening round of Wimbledon on Monday.
Kyrgios reached the final in last year’s tournament but fell to Novak Djokovic in four sets. It was his first Slam singles final and looking back, Kyrgios said he had perfect preparation heading into that tournament. But having played so little tennis this year, he’s unsure how he’ll perform this time around.
“Yeah, I still think there’s some question marks, for sure,” Kyrgios said when asked if he was ready for a grueling fortnight. “I mean, obviously five-set tennis is a completely different base altogether.
“I look at my preparations last year coming in, I probably had the most ideal preparation possible. It couldn’t be any different this year.
“Again, 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.
“I’ve been hitting with some really good players this week and my body is feeling OK. I’m going to take it one day at a time. I’m not going to look forward and put unfair expectations on myself. I’m just going to try to do everything I can, prepare, go out there and play some good tennis.”
Kyrgios had knee surgery in January and has been pleased with his recovery.
“I’ve been really disciplined throughout that time. I barely missed any sort of part of the process. I’ve been working really hard. I’ve been trying to do everything possible.
“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.”
Kyrgios said pulling out of the Australian Open “was one of…
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