Aussie hopes at Wimbledon seem to centre on Ashleigh Barty for the women and Nicky Kyrgios for the men.
Barty has yet to win a match at the All England Tennis Club during The Championships. This year marks the first time she has shown enough to receive a seeding and she certainly has a good enough grass court game. She won the junior title at Wimbledon when she was 15 and she has devoted a lot of energy on that surface.
“I was very fortunate to have a coach when I was young who taught me all the traditional shots and taught me a pretty traditional game style in a way,” Australia’s top women’s hope said ahead of her first-round clash on Tuesday with Swiss Stefanie Voegele.
Barty further said to reporters in remarks picked up by AAP, “So I feel like when I get on the grass, I can play my best tennis.”
On the men’s side, Kyrgios goes into the tournament in a good place, or should we say, good places, as he reports feeling good physically and mentally.
His first round opponent is Denis Istomin on Tuesday. Kyrgios made good showings in grass court lead-ups, taking both Roger Federer and Marin Cilic to tiebreakers.
Of his upcoming match, Kyrgios outlined his strategy.
“I need to lock in from the get go,” Kyrgios said. “I knew I’d be able to play well on the grass and just to win matches, come through those matches without any elbow pain, was the ultimate goal and I’m feeling good. It’s the best I’ve felt.”
Kyrgios feels that grass surfaces are less taxing physically, so he reports that he is fully recovered from the niggles that resulted in his not being able to play in the French Open last month.
Kyrgios is on the fifth line of most bookmakers, so he is poised to make his best run ever at Wimbledon and thus far, there has been no grumbling about the draw, so his assessment of his mental readiness may be entirely accurate.
