A first-time seeding must compensate for a lack of match
practice as Nick Kyrgios heads to Wimbledon after a scratchy preparation
involving just one competitive grasscourt outing.
Kyrgios's withdrawal from the Nottingham Open follows his no
show in Stuttgart because of an elbow injury and a first-round loss to
newly-crowned French Open champion Stan Wawrinka at Queen's last week.
The two-time grand slam quarter-finalist said he needed to
"chill out" and forget about tennis for a few days after falling to Wawrinka
in a flat performance he attributed to fatigue and feeling unwell since Roland
Garros.
In pulling the pin on Nottingham, Kyrgios tweeted that he
was still sick and had been unable to practice since his 47-minute loss to
Wawrinka.
Kyrgios's Wimbledon build-up has been in stark contrast to
last year when he won a Challenger tournament in Nottingham before making a
spectacular run to the last eight at the All England Club.
But the precocious talent proved with another grand slam
quarter-final charge at the Australian Open - in only his second ATP tournament
in four months - that he's capable of delivering on the big stage even after
playing only sparingly.
"I still feel confident. I know that I could do some
good things there and I know that I don't necessarily need too many matches
before grand slams," the world No.28 said at Queen's.
"Australian Open as well, I had one match going in
there."
Kyrgios and Australian No.1 Bernard Tomic, who is also
taking the week off after contesting back-to-back events in Stuttgart and
Halle, are hoping their impressive records at SW19 lead to a seeding boost on
Wednesday.
Unlike the other three grand slam tournaments, seedings are
based on Wimbledon's unique "grasscourt formula" where the All
England Club factors in past performances on the surface and doesn't strictly
follow the world rankings.
Tomic, ranked 24th, is assured of an all-important top-24
seeding, meaning he won't run into a top-eight rival until at least the fourth
round.
Kyrgios, who may be offered a match at The Boodles
exhibition event in London during the week, will receive similar protection
until at least the third round, and possibly the fourth.
Tomic, a quarter-finalist in 2011 who made the round of 16
last year, Kyrgios and women's seed Samantha Stosur lead an impressive
Australian challenge featuring at least 13 players in the singles draws in
2015.
While Kyrgios, Sam Groth, Thanasi Kokkinakis and James
Duckworth have all gained direct entry for the first time, former champion
Lleyton Hewitt and in-form Matt Ebden were both awarded wildcards.
Marinko Matosevic earned a late reprieve on Friday night,
spared of the stress of trying to qualify when former US Open champion Juan
Martin del Potro formally withdrew with a chronic wrist injury.
Stosur and Australia's four other women's hopefuls - Casey
Dellacqua, Jarmila Gajdosova, Daria Gavrilova and Ajla Tomljanovic - are all
tuning their grasscourt games at Eastbourne this week.
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