Nick Kyrgios returns to Wimbledon following knee surgery

LONDON — Nick Kyrgios admits there are “question marks” about how his body will hold up at Wimbledon, but last year’s finalist says he is excited to be back at the championships and ready for his first-round match.

Kyrgios has played just one singles match since November after missing time this year with a knee injury. That injury and the resulting surgery saw him miss both the Australian Open and French Open, but he says he’s fit to face David Goffin in the opening round Monday.

Kyrgios reached the final in last year’s tournament but fell to Novak Djokovic in four sets. It was his first Slam singles final, and looking back, Kyrgios said he had perfect preparation heading into that tournament. But having played so little tennis this year, he’s unsure how he’ll perform this time around.

“Yeah, I still think there’s some question marks, for sure,” Kyrgios said. “I mean, obviously, five-set tennis is a completely different base altogether.

“I look at my preparations last year coming in, I probably had the most ideal preparation possible. It couldn’t be any different this year.

“Again, I’m not going to discredit the work I’ve put in for the last six months just trying to maintain my fitness, get back on court.

“I’ve been hitting with some really good players this week and my body is feeling OK. I’m going to take it one day at a time. I’m not going to look forward and put unfair expectations on myself. I’m just going to try to do everything I can, prepare, go out there and play some good tennis.”

Kyrgios had knee surgery in January and has been pleased with his recovery.

“I’ve been really disciplined throughout that time. I barely missed any sort of part of the process. I’ve been working really hard. I’ve been trying to do everything possible.

“I think just people forget how strenuous this sport is, how physical it is. I feel like to the outside world, people don’t understand. Just because it’s not contact, it’s not that physical. I dare someone to go out there and play four hours with Novak and see how you feel afterward. Yeah, look, I feel probably as good as I could feel at the moment.”

Kyrgios said pulling out of the Australian Open “was one of the hardest things I had to do” because he felt he could’ve won the tournament. But since then, he’s paid sporadic attention to the sport as he went through his recovery, but has enjoyed watching his friends Thanasi Kokkinakis, Frances Tiafoe and Carlos Alcaraz.

Kyrgios’ sole match on grass this year was a 7-5, 6-3 loss to Wu Yibing in Stuttgart on June 13. “It’s been brutal because everyone is expecting you to be the same player that I was straightaway,” Kyrgios said. “That’s been really hard.

“Obviously I played a couple weeks ago in Stuttgart. I lost, and the criticism was enormous. My first match back, it was hard to kind of just be the same player that I was straightaway.

“Yeah, it’s been hard. Like, I’m trying to expect the same sort of tennis that I was playing last year, and I don’t think that’s fair at the moment.”

Kyrgios faced the media Sunday for the first time since the latest episodes of the Netflix documentary “Break Point” were released. In one episode, detailing his journey through last year’s Wimbledon, he spoke openly about his mental health.

“It took me seven, eight years to be able to just open up about that,” Kyrgios said. “I kept it very close to the chest for a long time.

“But I think it’s important. I think a lot of athletes kind of go through that. But just general people that go through the mental struggles, I feel like it’s a bit better now. Especially males felt like it was kind of hard to open up, admit they were struggling.

“Yeah, I feel very different to how I was feeling obviously throughout that period in 2019. Yeah, look, I guess I feel great now. Obviously, yeah, it’s hard because I’m putting so much expectation on myself. Compared to that time, I’m feeling a lot better.”