Nick Kyrgios may have been injured and sidelined and will enter Wimbledon desperately rusty at best – but his fellow Australian players at the All England Club warn his spectacular talent means he just can’t be ruled out as a potential champion.
Aleksandar Vukic, a new boy at Wimbledon, is even convinced the Canberra ace could roll up on Monday and go on better than last year by actually winning the tournament.
‘If Nick wins this tournament, I wouldn’t be surprised with him,’ said Sydneysider Vukic on Friday, while offering an upbeat assessment of his own chances and those of his Australian colleagues, with eight men set to play in the draw.
‘You don’t know what to expect in a way with Nick, but I mean, he made the final last year, so you wouldn’t be surprised if he made a run,’ added Vukic, referring to Kyrgios’s struggles with a knee problem that’s reduced him to playing just one match – a limp, losing one just over a fortnight ago – in nine months.
Kyrgios has missed the first half of 2023 with a knee injury but is battling to be ready for the start of Wimbledon on Monday
Late bloomer Aleksandar Vukic believes Kyrgios has what it takes to go all the way at the All England Championships
Sydney’s Chris O’Connell added, when asked if Kyrgios could be ruled out as a potential winner after such a desperately difficult preparation: ‘No. Definitely not. With that serve, yeah, you just can’t count him out, he’s so talented.’
His colleagues recall how, in 2021, a similarly rusty Kyrgios had picked himself up from a bad fall and won an epic five-setter against Ugo Humbert, reflecting afterwards that he’d basically won ‘on one leg’. So, they don’t underestimate his resilience either.
‘Not bad for a part-time player,’ Kyrgios laughed back then.
But this time around, it may be very different.
It was only less than three weeks ago that Kyrgios, in his only match of the year in Stuttgart, looked all at sea, complaining about the pain from his knee as he lost to a man who’d never played a grass-court match, China’s Wibing Yu.
And it would be a monumental turnaround for him to achieve just a single win at this Wimbledon against a streetwise competitor like David Goffin, a quarter-finalist only last year.
Kyrgios is in England and has been hard at practice after pulling up sore in his return match in Germany ahead of Wimbledon
Alex de Minaur, pictured with world No 1 and girlfriend Katie Boulter, is the favourite of the Aussies to go deep into the draw at Wimbledon
Alex de Minaur, the 15th seed, looks the best Australian bet, though Vukic thinks there’s a rich seam of ability in the Australian men’s ranks.
‘We have so many Aussies now, which is unbelievable. I don’t remember the last time we’ve had so many of us, nine, in the top 100 and, you know everyone’s kind of pushing each other in a way. It’s unbelievable for Australian tennis,’ he said.
Asked about the best bets for the week beyond Kyrgios, he added with a laugh: ‘You have to say ‘yourself’, otherwise what are you doing here?
‘But apart from that, I think Demon (de Minaur), I practised with him at Queen’s and he’s like a mini Lleyton Hewitt in a way. He’s a force to be reckoned with on this stuff. I’d have to put him up there.
‘Kubes (Jason Kubler) made the fourth round last year so he’s feeling comfortable on this stuff and he’s just won (a Challenger) in Ilkley. Tommo’s (Jordan Thompson) coming here in great form as well.
‘I think it’s gonna be a good week for Aussie tennis, let’s just put it like that.’
