Nick Kyrgios, last year’s Wimbledon runner-up, has encountered another setback ahead of this year’s Wimbledon.
The immensely talented Kyrgios made a comeback to tennis after a seven-month absence rehabbing from knee surgery.
The Australian returned to face Yibing Wu in the first round of the Stuttgart Open last week where he lost in two sets 7-5, 6-3.
Kyrgios unsurprisingly looked like a shell of himself in the loss and flocked to Twitter telling his fans to be patient with him.
Looking ahead to Wimbledon, the 28-year-old Kyrgios has decided to withdraw from this week’s Halle Open, a tournament in which he reached the semi-finals last year. However, Kyrgios intends to play in the ATP 250 tournament in Mallorca as a lead-up to this year’s Wimbledon.
Despite the injury plaguing him and this current setback, Kyrgios still remains one of the favorites as he approaches SW19 in just a couple of weeks’ time.
Slotted as a 10/1 favorite ahead of Wimbledon this year, Kyrgios aims to build on his best-ever grand slam run, which he accomplished in last year’s tournament.
Carlos Alcaraz expressed confidence in Kyrgios’s chances at Wimbledon this year, stating his belief that Kyrgios has the best shot of taking down the mighty Novak Djokovic.
But given Kyrgios’s current health and form, combined with Djokovic’s excellence at Roland Garros and a run of four-straight Wimbledon titles, makes the task of stopping the fast-serving, trick-shot-wielding Kyrgios a tough ask.
Still, all tennis fans should look forward to a hopefully healthy Kyrgios returning to Wimbledon, where a theatrical show is all but guaranteed.