Tennis Australia chief Craig Tiley remains hopeful 2022 Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios can defy the odds to make another run at his favourite event.
Kyrgios is in serious doubt after pulling out of lead-up events the Halle Open and Mallorca Open due to his lingering knee injury but has said he hopes to prove his fitness for Wimbledon.
The 28-year-old has only played one match this season, earlier this month in Stuttgart, where he was beaten by Wu Yibing, and felt pain in his knee on almost every point.
When asked if Kyrgios was fit to play at Wimbledon, Tiley said “he is”, but clarified he would know better once he spoke to him in London this week.
“Nick loves the grass,” Tiley said on Tuesday.
“He was in the final and I was there pretty much for every one of these matches along the way and he got better and better as the event progressed – he does on grass.
“He loves that surface. He loves competing out there and I know he wants nothing more than to be ready to play Wimbledon.”
Whether Kyrgios could overcome a lack of lead-in match practice to thrive is another matter.
“Ultimately it’s up to Nick,” Tiley said.
“It’ll be in the training and he has been doing that.
“The match toughness and match preparedness comes with playing more matches.
“So getting past the first few matches – if he’s healthy – getting past the first few matches will be key for him and then he’ll be on a roll.”
Australia’s hopes may be better placed in Alex de Minaur, who has enjoyed an excellent lead-in.
The 24-year-old beat world No.6 Holger Rune en route to the final at Queen’s Club where he suffered an honourable loss to top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz.
De Minaur made the fourth round at Wimbledon last year and his No.16 ranking means he will have protection in the draw until at least that point.
“Alex gets every single ball, and he’ll never say never and he’ll go for every single opportunity so you cannot count him out against any player,” Tiley said.
“He’s on the verge of now consistently beating the top-10 players and getting himself into the top 10 and he’s exciting to watch.
“Not only that, he’s a magnificent person and we’d like to see nothing more than to see him do well and he’s playing well going into Wimbledon.
“(Contending is) a tough ask. There’s only a few players that actually get to win grand slams, but Alex isn’t far off.”
