Nick Kyrgios planned his return to grass after three years to pan out differently. After a decent start at the Stuttgart Open, he expected an even better outing at the Terra Wortmann Open. But a recurring knee injury slightly altered his plans, as the Australian star reassured his fans of his Wimbledon plans.

Kyrgios had to withdraw from the event in Halle (Terra Wortmann Open) due to a knee issue. Turns out that he had suffered the issue while training with his doubles partner Mattia Bellucci before his singles clash against Ben Shelton. Though this latest physical setback does lead to serious doubts over his return to Wimbledon, Kyrgios is confident that he will be in action at the Grand Slam.

“Hey guys, I had a minor setback yesterday in practice with my doubles partner and tweaked my knee slightly,” he wrote on an Instagram story. “Nothing to be concerned about! I appreciate all the kind messages as I am back on tour. Looking forward to Mallorca and Wimbledon.”

Notably, Kyrgios has earned a men’s doubles wildcard for the upcoming edition of the SW19. He has formed a pair alongside Alexander Bublik for the tournament, and they are among the five teams to have been given direct entries into the main draw so far.

The pair was also in action at the Stuttgart Open last week, where they defeated the pair of Jakub Paul and Ryan Seggerman in the first round. However, they had then decided to withdraw from their quarterfinal clash.

While Kyrgios may have been handed a doubles wildcard, his name was nowhere to be found on the list of initial wildcards for the men’s singles draw. Six out of the eight wildcards for the draw have already been decided, so there is only a slim chance that Kyrgios will make the cut. Moreover, he isn’t in the qualifier list either, as his rank of No. 899 is way too low to be considered for a place in the draw.

After an impressive runner-up finish at Wimbledon in 2022, Kyrgios had multiple knee and wrist surgeries that prevented him from building on that momentum. Planned comebacks were again derailed due to the recurring nature of injuries, and he even battled mental health issues during that phase; ultimately, it took him three years to return to grass again.

The Australian’s final form of preparation before Wimbledon will likely come at the ATP 250 event in Mallorca that is set to commence on June 21. Kyrgios himself confirmed his participation in the tournament while providing an update on his physical condition. This is expected to be his third appearance in the competition.

Kyrgios had made his debut at the Mallorca Country Club in 2022, where he had defeated Laslo Djere in the first round. However, he had to withdraw from his second-round clash against Roberto Bautista Agut due to an abdominal injury. He was then scheduled to play the 2023 edition, but had to pull out because of a wrist injury. It remains to be seen if Kyrgios will be able to have an injury-free campaign this time around.

As speculations regarding Kyrgios’ singles return to Wimbledon continue to grow, former ATP pro Greg Rusedski feels that the 31-year-old shouldn’t be handed a wildcard for the Grand Slam.

Greg Rusedski isn’t satisfied with Nick Kyrgios’ performance

Rusedski believes that Kyrgios currently isn’t fit enough to handle the pressure of playing three-set matches and thus shouldn’t be a part of the SW19.

“I’m not entirely convinced he deserves a main draw invitation,” he said on the Off Court with Greg Rusedski podcast. “I think a qualifying invitation would be more appropriate… It’s one thing to play matches in best-of-three sets, but it’s another to play matches in best-of-five sets.

“The big question is whether he has enough competitive rhythm and whether he is physically ready to play matches in best-of-three sets. That’s where Wimbledon will really need to assess the situation,” he added.

Rusedski’s argument does make sense as Kyrgios has only played three singles matches so far this year. Additionally, he has only recorded one singles victory in the last 15 months. Regular injury battles have derailed his season once again, and he isn’t expected to feature in a lot of tournaments during the hard-court season either.

Kyrgios is currently finding it hard to even play two or three matches in a row without suffering a physical setback. He will have to drastically improve his fitness level in order to become a competitive player on the tour once again.