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Strawberries and chilling on Kyrgios menu

3 minute read

Nick Kyrgios is back at Wimbledon after a long competitive break, promising that he's going to chill, have some strawberries and a bit of fun this year.

NICK KYRGIOS.
NICK KYRGIOS. Picture: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images

Nick Kyrgios has breezed back into Wimbledon promising he's here on vacation to chill out, chomp on some strawberries, play alongside his new friend Venus and, well, just have a bit of fun.

Oh yes, and while he's at it, Wimbledon's most natural of entertainers might just win the odd tennis match too.

Canberra's finest was in cracking form on Saturday, reflecting on the prospect of playing outside Australia for the first time this year, musing that even with his lack of competitive action, he still might be good enough to beat half the field here without much preparation.

He's ready to tackle French 21st seed Ugo Humbert in Tuesday's first round in a repeat of his classic five-set triumph at the Australian Open in February which demonstrated why he remains absolute box office gold.

Kyrgios, who'll also be in a 'dream team' with Venus Williams in the mixed doubles, hoped for a warm-up tournament, but a neck injury put paid to that, so he's coming in under-cooked.

Wimbledon, though, was worth it, he reckoned.

"I just want to go out there and have some fun. It's Wimbledon - it's the pinnacle of tennis. I'm going to get myself some strawberries and chill.

"I'm using this as a vacation. I've been in Australia now for a year-and-a-half. I've reached a really nice level of freedom. Nothing fazes me at all any more.

"But Wimbledon is an event I never take for granted if I can play it, so I made the trip over.

"I know it's not going to be easy to just turn the switch on. I can't expect to be playing the best type of tennis like I was a couple of years ago at Wimbledon.

"So I'm not putting too much expectation or pressure on myself - but I feel pretty good, physically not bad.

"I definitely feel that I could beat 50% of the draw on grass without much preparation.

"I know for a fact that no-one here wanted to play me in the first round and I feel completely confident going into this match.

Kyrgios says he plans to play the US hard-court swing, culminating in the US Open, but reiterated that he doesn't feel he has to play anywhere.

"I didn't feel at all that I had to play," he said.

"When I was at home I wasn't looking at any results. I was happy without tennis. I just feel like I've got a little bit left to give to the game, I feel like a lot of people are wanting me to play."

He's a man who knows his worth to the game.

"That's probably the one thing I've missed about tennis is I feel like I have this platform, this power that tennis has given me that I can kind of do what I want," he said.

"I feel like it's just ironic that at the start of my career it was like I was a disgrace to the game, all this b******t. Now it's every time I literally touch a court, it's fully packed and I'm always on the tennis social media."

He laughed that he's only played two tournaments in a year-and-a-half but already his encounter against Humbert is being hailed as match of the tournament.

"It's pretty funny," he smiled - and Wimbledon seems to be happy to smile with him.

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