Nick Kyrgios on Monday downplayed concerns he could miss Wimbledon after retiring with an injury one set into his opening match at the Aegon Championships grass-court tournament at Queen’s in London.
In the latest injury setback for the hot-headed Australian, Kyrgios slipped at the back of the court during the second point of the ninth game against Donald Young, with the score at 4-4.
Kyrgios required treatment on his left hip during a medical timeout, but continued playing despite not moving freely in hot conditions in west London.
Photo: AFP
After losing a tiebreaker 7-3, the ninth seed headed straight for his bag, put away his racket, shook hands with Young and walked off.
Asked if he would be fit for Wimbledon, which starts on July 3, Kyrgios said: “Yeah, 100 percent.”
“I mean I’d play Wimbledon if I was injured pretty bad anyway. I’m here anyway. I don’t really have time to go home or anything. Yeah, I will be playing, for sure,” he said.
Kyrgios said in the buildup to the match that he has had hip trouble for the past seven months, but was now playing without pain. He has also been troubled with soreness in his right shoulder and began the match on Centre Court with strapping round his right knee.
He shouted in pain, clutched his hip and covered his face with his hands while lying on the ground following his fall, which came after he was wrong-footed by a shot from Young.
“I have been playing with a sore hip for a long time. I felt it was painful and it’s not really worth it,” the world No. 20 said.
Asked what he would be doing instead this week, Kyrgios said with a smile: “Dog and Fox.”
That was a reference to a pub located close to Wimbledon.
Earlier, fifth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga beat Adrian Mannarino 6-2, 6-2, while sixth seed Grigor Dimitrov defeated Ryan Harrison 6-3, 6-1.
In the final game on Centre Court, Denis Shapovalov beat Kyle Edmund 7-6 (7/4), 4-6, 6-4 for a much happier ending than his previous match against the British player.
In February, while playing a Davis Cup match for Canada against Britain in Ottawa, Shapovalov was disqualified for smashing in anger a tennis ball that struck umpire Arnaud Gabas, who suffered a fractured eye socket.
“I don’t think I’m ever going to forget about it, but I think I’ve moved on from it,” Shapovalov said.
Japan’s Shohei Ohtani is the record-breaking baseball “superhuman” following in the footsteps of the legendary Babe Ruth who has also earned comparisons to US sporting greats Michael Jordan and Tom Brady. Not since Ruth a century ago has there been a baseball player capable of both pitching and hitting at the top level. The 30-year-old’s performances with the Los Angeles Dodgers have consolidated his position as a baseball legend in the making, and a national icon in his native Japan. He continues to find new ways to amaze, this year becoming the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases
Zhang Shuai yesterday said that she nearly quit after losing 24 matches in a row — now the world No. 595 is into the quarter-finals of her home China Open. The 35-year-old is to face Spain’s Paula Badosa as the lowest-ranked player to reach this stage in the history of the tournament after Badosa reeled off 11 of the last 12 games in a 6-4, 6-0 victory over US Open finalist Jessica Pegula. Zhang went into Beijing on a barren run lasting more than 600 days and her string of singles defeats was the second-longest on the WTA Tour Open era, which
Francesco Bagnaia yesterday profited from a mistake by rookie Pedro Acosta to win the Japan MotoGP sprint and close the gap on overall championship leader, Jorge Martin. Spaniard Acosta crashed with four laps to go while leading the field at Motegi, allowing defending world champion Bagnaia to take first ahead of Enea Bastianini and Marc Marquez. Spain’s Martin finished fourth and saw his overall lead over Italian Bagnaia in the championship standings cut to 15 points. “I am very happy because with these conditions, it’s not very easy to win and gain points,” Bagnaia said after a sprint race that took place under
Naomi Osaka is braced for a “battle” after yesterday setting up a clash with Coco Gauff in the round-of-16 of the China Open, while top seed Aryna Sabalenka also marched on. Osaka defeated 60th-ranked American Katie Volynets 6-3, 6-2 and next faces Gauff in a showdown of former US Open champions in Beijing. World No. 2 Sabalenka swatted aside Ashlyn Krueger 6-2, 6-2 for her 14th consecutive victory and plays another American in 24th-ranked Madison Keys. Looking ahead to the Gauff meeting, four-time Grand Slam champion Osaka said: “She’s very athletic, obviously.” “For me, my strongest traits are being aggressive and also my serve,
RSS