Nick Kyrgios declared himself fit for Wimbledon after his long injury lay-off but said he was “almost dreading” his return to tennis.
The 28-year-old pulled out of the Australian Open on the eve of the tournament, announcing he needed surgery on his knee, and he has played only one match since, last month in Stuttgart.
Kyrgios enjoyed by far the best season of his career last year, reaching the Wimbledon final and achieving the sort of consistent results that for a long time appeared beyond him.
View this post on InstagramHe has made no secret of his wavering love for the sport and the lifestyle it requires and, while he described the first five months of the year as “brutal”, he was brutally honest about his feelings regarding his comeback.
“I don’t miss the sport at all,” he said. “I was almost dreading coming back a little bit. But it’s my job.”
It was clear in his defeat by China’s Wu Yibing in Stuttgart that Kyrgios’ knee was far from fully recovered and he pulled out of subsequent tournaments in Halle and Majorca.
The Australian has been practising at the All England Club over the last few days, though, and said: “I still think there’s some question marks, for sure.
“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.
“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. I feel probably as good as I could feel at the moment.”
At his best, Kyrgios would be high up a list of possible challengers to defending champion Novak Djokovic, who he took a set off in the final 12 months ago.
The Australian has been handed a potentially tricky opener against Belgian David Goffin, who reached the quarter-finals last year, and in a 10-minute press conference veered between playing down expectations and insisting he can defy his limited preparations.
“I’m extremely confident,” he said. “I’ve never been a player that needs a lot of matches before playing a grand slam. I’ve always been kind of on the side of not playing too much.
“What I’ve achieved in my career never leaves. Last year, it wasn’t that long ago really. I feel like I’m still serving as good as ever. I’m still able to beat a lot of people on the court.
View this post on Instagram“The thing about tennis is the tour is so vigorous, there’s tournaments week in and week out, you kind of don’t have time to reflect on anything you’ve done. I’ve had so much time to sit back and be forced to look at everything I did last year. I wanted to do more.
“Pulling out of the Australian Open was one of the hardest things I had to do because I generally feel like, with the tennis I was playing and with my grand slam experience, just the way I was feeling, I felt like I could win that tournament.
“It’s been hard. I’m trying to expect the same sort of tennis that I was playing last year, and I don’t think that’s fair at the moment.”
ATP Finals: Comeback win keeps Fritz in semi-final contention
Taylor Fritz has put himself in a strong position to make it to the ATP Finals semis after a comeback win against Alex de Minaur.
Fritz rallied in three sets to triumph 5-7 6-4 6-3 in just over two hours, sealing De Minaur's fate, as he crashed out having failed to win a match.
The Australian made a strong start as he attempted to overturn the odds to reach the semi-finals in his maiden tournament and took control with a break late on, winning the final three games of the first set to take an early advantage.
Fritz fought back, protecting his serve in the opening game before finding his edge late on, and though De Minaur valiantly defended two set points, he could not prevent a decider.
The American eased into cruise control after that, taking a 4-1 lead with a three-game winning streak, from which he did not look back.
"Even though I won the match I feel like there wasn't necessarily any moments when I changed too much," Fritz said.
"He was all over me when I did a great job, but towards the end of the second set, I began to find my serve and I started serving much better.
"When I wasn't creating the first serves, he was just killing me from the baseline. It just gave me a little bit of comfort to just stay in the match and not be under so much pressure all the time. It was still incredibly tough."
His attention now turns to the late match in the Ilie Nastase Group between Jannik Sinner, who has already progressed to the final four, and Daniil Medvedev. The Russian must win in straight sets to progress, but if he drops a set or loses, Fritz will advance along with the world number one.
Data Debrief: On the brink
Any further involvement at the ATP Finals for Fritz may hinge on favours from elsewhere, but he worked hard on Thursday to put himself within touching distance of the semi-finals for the second time.
He struggled against the big serves of De Minaur, whose aggressive approach saw him outhit Fritz with 12 winners to seven, though he could not translate it into a win.
It means that Fritz (nine) is the first American player to register 9+ wins against top-10 opponents in a single season since Pete Sampras (10) and Andre Agassi (12) in 1999.
ATP Finals: Zverev targets 10 more years at the top after Ruud win
Alexander Zverev outlined his plan to stay at the top of the game for another decade after overcoming Casper Ruud in his second match at the ATP Finals.
Having started his campaign at the season finale in Turin by downing Andrey Rublev, Zverev made it two wins from as many matches with a 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 victory over the Norwegian.
He needed just 86 minutes to wrap up his victory, hitting 28 winners to his opponent's 13 in a confident, powerful performance.
Zverev is appearing at the ATP Finals for a seventh time, and another victory over Carlos Alcaraz on Friday would secure his spot in the semi-finals.
The German has won the event on two previous occasions, beating Novak Djokovic in the 2018 showpiece and overcoming Daniil Medvedev in 2021.
Asked what his experience at the ATP Finals meant for his chances of success, he joked: "It means I'm old! But I still don’t feel old.
"I hope I have another solid 10 years ahead of me, but I think it’s a young group of guys.
"There has been kind of a shift in tennis this year and I think it's a good thing. They're exciting new players and everybody loves watching them."
Data Debrief: ATP Finals specialist marches on
Since the ATP Finals moved to Turin for the 2021 event, Zverev's eight victories at the competition have only been bettered by Djokovic's 12.
Meanwhile, the German has also managed more ATP Tour-level wins this year than any other player, with Wednesday's success his 68th of 2024.
ATP Finals: Alcaraz 'surprised' himself with battling Rublev victory
Carlos Alcaraz surprised himself with the level of performance he was able to produce in his win over Andrey Rublev at the ATP Finals on Tuesday.
Alcaraz emerged a 6-3 7-6 (10-8) victor against the Russian in his second match of the tournament, keeping his hopes of advancing to the next round in Turin alive.
The Spaniard fell to defeat in his opening game against Casper Ruud, citing a stomach issue that left him feeling unwell before and during that match.
But the world number three looked back to his brilliant best against Rublev, claiming the first set in 37 minutes before edging a thrilling tie-break in the second.
"Yes, I surprised myself a lot," Alcaraz said shortly after the victory.
"The way I played today from the baseline, I was really calm and tried to just focus on my game and what I had to do - forget that I'm not really feeling well.
"Once you step on the court, you have to forget everything you're struggling with outside the court."
Alcaraz, though, said he was still not feeling 100% ahead of facing Alexander Zverev, who is in action against Ruud later on Tuesday.
It will be the pair's first meeting since the Spaniard's triumph in the French Open final in June, but Zverev has not let that defeat ruin a fine season.
His own opening win over Rublev was his ATP Tour-leading 67th win of the campaign, with only Jannik Sinner matching the German for victories this year.
"I could be better, healthier. I'm just trying to step on the court and play good tennis, try not to think about my issues right now," Alcaraz said.
"I've been struggling the last week and that's going to be the case over the next day too, for sure.
"Zverev is playing great tennis. He is one of the toughest players in the world right now, that's for sure.
"I will try to play good tennis and enjoy the same way I did today. Then let's see."
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