Tennis – Australian Open – Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia, February 12, 2021 Australia’s Nick Kyrgios in action during his third round match against Austrian Dominic Thiem REUTERS / Jaimi Joy
June 26 (Reuters) – Nick Kyrgios is ready to have some fun when he returns to competitive tennis for the first time since February at the Wimbledon Championships next week, where he will compete with Venus Williams in mixed doubles.
As of the beginning of 2020, Kyrgios, who reached a career high ranking of 13th in 2016, has only played one tournament in Acapulco, Mexico outside of Australia, making his ranking at 61st.
The third-round loss to Dominic Thiem at the Australian Open in February was the 26-year-old’s last game, who was slated to return for the Queen’s Club turf season earlier this month but was eliminated due to neck pain.
“I know it won’t be easy to just turn the switch on and I can’t expect to play the best kind of tennis I might have played at Wimbledon a few years ago,” Kyrgios told reporters on Saturday .
“I don’t have high expectations or pressure on myself, but in general I feel pretty good. I don’t feel bad physically.
“I hit quite a lot on the grass, trying to get two hits a day, trying to find my feet because I’ve been on the grass for almost two years. It was fun just being back here and a lot from the tennis world. “
In a social media post this week, Kyrgios said he was looking for a mixed doubles partner for Wimbledon and announced on Saturday that he has tied Williams, who owns 11 All England Club titles, including five in singles.
“The mixed doubles of the tournament,” explained Kyrgios.
He will start his individual campaign against the French Ugo Humbert, whom he defeated in a nerve-wracking five-setter in the second round of his home Grand Slam.
Kyrgios said he did not fail to travel on the tour and he did not lack the confidence to go into his opening round at the major.
“I feel good because I haven’t played a game in a long time, but that time at home was fantastic,” he said. “I kind of felt like Wimbledon, it’s an event that I never take for granted if I can play it so I made it over.
“I’ll get strawberries. And chill, hit a few serves, hit a few volleys, enjoy the grass and chill. “
Reporting by Sudipto Ganguly in Mumbai; Processing of xx
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