Nick Kyrgios spoke about his plans to return to the court and requested to play with Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon, as the Serbian recovers from knee meniscus surgery with hopes of competing in the third Grand Slam of the year.
The Australian will be one of the experts on television broadcasts and mentioned in an interview with Canberra Times that he could use his stay in London to play with the 24-time Grand Slam champion.
Djokovic's participation in SW19 is still not confirmed after undergoing surgery on his right knee. Djokovic withdrew in the quarterfinals of the French Open before his match against Casper Ruud and quickly went through surgery while hurrying his recovery.
The Serbian hopes to finish his recovery in time for Wimbledon, which starts on July 1. Meanwhile, Kyrgios will be present during Wimbledon weeks as a television broadcast expert but speculated about picking up a racket and playing with Djokovic: “If he wants to have a hit at Wimbledon I wouldn't mind at all.”
"That's where my level was when I left. It'd be good to get back into it,” Kyrgios said to Canberra Times. "Just to be in that environment, not necessarily participating in the tournament, but getting around it again and feeling like normal, it would be great."
The 29-year-old Australian last played in June 2023 at the Stuttgart Open when he lost in the first round to Chinese player Wu Yibing. It was his only appearance on the Tour that year after several injuries that have kept him away from competitions to date.
However, Kyrgios still hopes to return to the Tour with high expectations regarding the level he can display: “I'm expected to go win, which is bulls--- in my opinion. There will be players on tour that are ranked 40th in the world and if I play them in a first-round they'll say, 'Oh Kyrgios should win in straight sets'.
“The majority of people don't understand. Everyone else is like, 'Play for another five years'. They couldn't last one day. I'd say come train with me for a week and see how you enjoy it and then tell me to do that for another five years,” the former Wimbledon runner-up said. “It's not like I hit for half an hour and then go win matches. Just getting out there and playing at a decent level again would be a bonus.”