Nick Kyrgios has thrown his hopes of competing at Wimbledon into doubt after pulling out of this week’s tournament in Halle. The world No 31 only started his season last week after being sidelined following knee surgery but he has already withdrawn from another event. It comes a day after Carlos Alcaraz claimed that Kyrgios could upset Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon.
Kyrgios made his long-awaited return to competition last week in Stuttgart. The 28-year-old hadn’t played a singles match since October after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery in January.
He made a losing return to competition as he crashed out to Wu Yibing 7-5 6-3 in his first-round match. The world No 31 was set to keep trying to find his form this week in Halle but withdrew on Monday morning citing a knee injury.
Kyrgios was a semi-finalist at the ATP 500 event 12 months ago but now faces the threat of not playing at Wimbledon as he continues to struggle physically almost six months after his knee surgery. Despite his lack of form this year, Alcaraz had thrown his weight behind the Australian for Wimbledon.
The 20-year-old was discussing his own chances on the grass ahead of his Queen’s debut. Alcaraz has played Wimbledon twice but will compete at an ATP Tour event on the grass for the very first time this week.
Alcaraz downplayed his own hopes of upsetting seven-time Wimbledon champion Djokovic but claimed that Kyrgios had the best chance of usurping the Serb. “Well I have always said that I think I can win any tournament I play. Obviously, on grass it is a bit more complicated as I don’t have a lot of experience and in the matches I played I struggled on it,” Alcaraz said ahead of Queen’s.
“And obviously Djokovic, together with [Roger] Federer, is one of the greatest players ever seen on a grass court. So, it’s already going to be complicated.” While the 10-time title winner wasn’t feeling confident about Wimbledon, he thought that Kyrgios should.
With Kyrgios reaching his maiden Grand Slam singles final at the All England Club last year – losing to Djokovic – Alcaraz thought that he could go one better this time around. The Spaniard continued: “Kyrgios has already played a final in Wimbledon and he’s very good on grass as well.
“I am not saying that I am not capable of beating Djokovic, but I think I have less chances than on other surfaces. I think that Kyrgios has more chance to defeat Djokovic than any other player.”
But Alcaraz may change his mind after Kyrgios’ latest injury withdrawal. The Aussie was set to face Lorenzo Sonego in Halle but has been replaced by lucky loser Aslan Karatsev. Meanwhile, Alcaraz will open his Queen’s campaign against qualifier Arthur Fils.
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