An injury cloud continues to hover above Nick Kyrgios as the Australian No.1 and 20th seed prepares to kick off his Wimbledon campaign on Monday.
London, UK, 2 July 2017 | Matt Trollope
That was how Nick Kyrgios assessed the hip ailment that has plagued him the past several weeks on tour.
The first signs of it appeared in Madrid, when he took a medical timeout for treatment in that area during a first-round win over Marcos Baghdatis.
He later withdrew from Rome, struggled with his movement in Lyon, fell early at Roland Garros and then aggravated the injury when he slipped on the slick grass at Queen’s Club, prompting him to retire after the first set of his first-round match against Donald Young.
“Probably 60-65 per cent,” said Kyrgios when asked to assess the extent of his physical health on Saturday at Wimbledon.
“I played a couple of matches at Boodles last couple of days to sort of see where I was at and it’s definitely not 100 per cent.
“I’ve been doing absolutely everything I can; I’ve been taking anti-inflammatories, doing an hour-and-a-half of rehab a day, getting treatment. But there’s only so much I can do with this kind of injury – it needs time to rest.
“I was in a good place before Queen’s. I’d gotten an injection after Paris, took 10 days off and rehabbed it, and then obviously slipped on the grass in Queen’s, which kind of screwed everything up I guess.”
Kyrgios will nonetheless take to the court for his first round-match against Pierre-Hugues Herbert, scheduled for Monday at the All England Club.
He was wary of the attacking Frenchman, whom he faced recently in the first round of the Roland Garros doubles tournament with Jordan Thompon; the Aussie duo beat Herbert and fellow Frenchman Nicolas Mahut, the second seeds, in the first round.
“I still obviously feel confident on the grass; I know that I can serve well, play aggressive and still be successful but at the same time it’s not where I’d like my body to be,” Kyrgios said.
“He (Herbert) is very capable. He’s played some great singles matches. I think this is his best surface for sure – he serves well, he comes forward pretty much every point, so I know I’m going to have to play the right style of tennis to beat him. He’s dangerous.”
Kyrgios, the No.20 seed, is projected to face 14th seed Lucas Pouille – who reached the 2016 quarterfinals – in the third round and No.1 seed and defending champion Andy Murray in the last 16.
Murray beat Kyrgios at the same stage of last year’s Championships.