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.
Kyrgios hopes to practice with
Nole
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."
Kyrgios lost in the 2022 Wimbledon final against Djokovic in four sets.
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.”