Nick Kyrgios had to pull out of this year’s Australian Open, and since has been limited to just one match prior to Wimbledon 2023, which begins on Monday. The 28-year-old stepped to the podium on Sunday at the All England Club and summed up a harrowing six months.

“Yeah, it’s been brutal,” he said. “It’s been hard.”

My body was crying for rest

Kyrgios, who reached his first major final at Wimbledon in 2022, had the season of his life last year, going 37-10 with six wins in 10 matches against the top 10. He didn’t want to see that momentum stop, but his body had other ideas, as he was forced to undergo knee surgery earlier this season.

“Last year I felt like everything kind of came together for me,” he said. “Finals of Wimbledon. Barely lost a match. Had the third best season on tour. Obviously my body was just crying out for some sort of rest. I needed to do what I had to do.”

Kyrgios, who will face veteran Belgian David Goffin in first-round action on Monday, wanted to get a few more matches under his belt at Mallorca, but his body wasn’t up to the task.

“I was trying to play Mallorca,” he said. “I would have loved to get another match under my belt before Wimbledon. My body wasn’t ready.”

The Aussie reminded reporters just how difficult the task at hand is. Today’s tennis is a physical endeavor, and he knows he will need time to be able to ride through three and four hour matches on the Grand Slam stage, especially with just one match under his belt as he heads into the biggest event on his calendar.

“I think just people forget how strenuous this sport is, how physical it is,” he said. “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 afterwards.

“Yeah, look, I feel probably as good as I could feel at the moment.”

Big question marks remain

On the eve of his second match since undergoing surgery, Kyrgios cautioned that his expectations are low.

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

No matter what happens on Monday against Goffin, Kyrgios stresses that the experience of last year will always be a part of him – a constant reminder that he is right in the mix when it comes to the players that have a shot at winning a Grand Slam.

“It’s the pinnacle of tennis”

Nick Kyrgios is happy to be back at Wimbledon and reflects on his experience in last year’s final pic.twitter.com/r1Wux15zba

— Sky Sports Tennis (@SkySportsTennis) July 2, 2023

He hints that he believed he could have won the title in Australia this year if his knee problems hadn’t intervened.

“I’ve had so much time to kind of sit back and be forced to look at everything I did last year,” he said. “I wanted to do more. I think the Australian Open, pulling out of Australian Open was one of the hardest things I had to do because I generally feel like, with the tennis I was playing and with my Grand Slam experience, just the way I was feeling, I felt like I could win that tournament. Obviously from then I had to get surgery.

“Yeah, it’s been brutal because everyone is expecting you to be the same player that I was straightaway. That’s been really hard.”