Nick Kyrgios, Milos Raonic, Matteo Berrettini in race to be ready for Wimbledon, but can they challenge?

For Nick Kyrgios, Matteo Berrettini and Milos Raonic, Wimbledon has been the closest they have got to winning a Grand Slam singles title. Kyrgios made the final last summer, losing to Novak Djokovic in four sets. Berrettini was beaten by the same opponent, and over the same number of sets, the previous year.

Raonic was unable to prevent Andy Murray winning a second Wimbledon title in 2016. Ad All three have booming serves and big groundstrokes that can take opponents out of the equation on grass. The presence of all three will make the Wimbledon draw look stronger.

WimbledonWho's playing Wimbledon and who's missing out?19/06/2023 AT 13:05 But combined they have played just 12 tour-level matches this season and all only made their return after long-term injuries at the start of the grass swing. From once being among the Wimbledon favourites, they now approach the Grand Slam in uncertain circumstances. Kyrgios said last summer that he felt like he was “right there” at the top after pushing Djokovic close in the Wimbledon final.

And he backed up his impressive grass swing by carrying his high-level play into the US hard-court summer. That he was crushed to lose in the quarter-finals of the US Open said plenty about the fresh expectations and hopes around Kyrgios. But then injury hit and before returning in Stuttgart last week he hadn’t played singles since October.

His comeback match was not all that encouraging as he looked below his best physically and was beaten by World No. 66 Wu Yibing. The 28-year-old, who has opened up about “suicidal” thoughts following his loss at Wimbledon in 2019, asked after the loss against Wu for patience from supporters.