Nick Kyrgios upbeat despite lack of preparation for Wimbledon
- Doug Mattushek
- 30 June 2023
Nick Kyrgios has spent most of 2023 sidelined with injury, but he is rather sanguine ahead of his Wimbledon campaign.
No preparation, no problem for positive Nick Kyrgios...
Surgery on his left knee saw Kyrgios miss the first five months of the year. The Australian made his comeback on the grass courts of Stuttgart in Germany in June, but it was shortlived, as China's Yibling Wu defeated him in straight sets in his first match.
Unfortunately for Kyrgios, this will be his only preparation for Wimbledon, but the former world number 13 is unfazed…
"I think if anything it's going to help me, the fact that I've already posted such a good result there and I know that Centre Court so well," the 28-year-old told
atptour.com.
"I know what I need to do to be successful. I think all the pressure is off me, to be honest.
"I think that people always say once you have results, that's when the pressure starts kicking in. But for me, it's been the reverse my whole career. When I've won tournaments or when I've done really well, it's almost the opposite. It's almost like you've proven yourself and now you can actually just relax and have some fun with it.
"I don't think I've got anything left to prove in my career to be honest. I've beaten some amazing players, won some really big tournaments, [made the] final of a Grand Slam, won a doubles Grand Slam. I feel like now, this is why you work. So you can actually have fun and just enjoy it."
On Kyrgios' side is the fact that he clearly has something that can't really be trained: Big Match Temperament. In the US Open last year, he swept aside top seed Daniil Medvedev in four sets en route to the quarter-finals.
And this translates to Wimbledon as well, where - at the tender age of 19 - he downed then-world number one Rafael Nadal in the Round of 16 in 2014. Last year at Wimbledon, he defeated the red-hot Stefanos Tsitsipas and later reached his first grand slam final.
As such, Kyrgios is confident the fond memories at the All England Club will carry him through the tournament
"It was amazing, the fact that it's only been a year, it's been crazy," continued the Canberra native, who is 20-8 at the grass-court major.
"Everything off the court and all the attention obviously… It is a tournament where I think every tennis player wants to do well. People that don't play tennis know about Wimbledon.
"Every other tournament is tennis, obviously, but there's something about Wimbledon that just breathes it. There's so much culture there and that's where it kind of began. So, I think I'm really happy that my best result ever at a singles Grand Slam was at Wimbledon. I think that's just an incredible thing to [be able to] say."
