ATP Tournament in Stuttgart, 1st Round, Tuesday, 13.06.2023
On Tuesday Nick Kyrgios celebrates his comeback. The Australian had to take a break since December 2022 due to injury and will play his first match this year at the Boss Open.
Knee problems and a robbery slowed down last year’s Wimbledon finalist. Will he bounce back with an opening win after the long break? In my Kyrgios Wu tip, I give you a prediction for the match.
With the start of the grass court season, Nick Kyrgios, who did not have it easy last year, returns to the tour. For a long time he struggled with knee problems and then with the effects of a robbery in his house.
Now it’s back to business for Kyrgios in Stuttgart. “The grass court season is the perfect time of the year for me. I’m coming back at a tournament where I’ve played well in the past,” the 28-year-old enthused.
In 2018 and 2022, he has already reached the semi-finals of Stuttgart twice. Last year, he failed to beat Andy Murray. In 2018, a certain Roger Federer prevailed in three sets.
For the man who has won against every world number one at least once since 2014, the tournament begins against Yibing Wu.
The bookmakers are confident of victory for Kyrgios in his first match after a six-month break. Bet365 gives the Australian 1.25 odds. Wu goes into the match as an underdog: 4.00.
The two players have not yet met on the tour. The favourite odds – despite the long break from playing – are mainly due to the fact that Wu is inexperienced on grass.
Since 2015, the 23-year-old has played a total of six matches on the green surface. His last grass-court match was at the 2017 Wimbledon Juniors, where he faced Jack Draper, among others, and prevailed in two sets.
He was eliminated in the quarter-finals. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina sent Wu home with a 6-2, 6-4 win. All three players mentioned from back then are now in the top 100 of the world rankings.
But these levels of experience are no comparison to the 76 matches played by Kyrgios, who is still ranked 25th in the world despite his long break.
This is mainly because he has scored mightily from the 2022 grass court season. He reached the semi-finals in Stuttgart and Halle, and in Wimbledon he reached his only major final to date.
13 of his 17 grass court matches ended victoriously in 2022. With this success rate, it was also his best surface this year.
One of his great strengths is his explosive serve, which he uses to secure service games on the green in rows. In the Wimbledon final, he hit 30 aces against the newly crowned sole Grand Slam record winner Novak Djokovic.
If Kyrgios can build directly on his recent grass court performance in his first match, I think a 2-0 is very likely. Bet365 would offer a 1.80 on this bet.
Alternatively, a bet on over 0.5 tiebreaks can also be considered. In Kyrgios’ last 15 grass matches, a total of 14 tiebreaks have been played. For over 0.5 tiebreaks, Betano has a 1.95 on offer.
After two strong tournaments in Cleveland and Dallas, where Kyrgios even managed to beat Taylor Fritz and John Isner, he failed to make a good transition to clay.
In Madrid and Barcelona he failed in round one. At the Masters in Rome, at least he went through to the second round after beating Richard Gasquet.
He then had to retire against Alexander Zverev after two opening wins at the 250 tournament in Geneva. At the French Open, he lost clearly to Roberto Bautista Agut (6-7, 1-6, 1-6) in the end after a close first set.
Summary: Kyrgios is one of the best grass court players in the world, but will play his first match after a six-month break on Tuesday. For Wu, it will be his first outing on grass since 2017.
If the Australian can keep up his grass performance from last year, I see him clearly ahead on Tuesday. I don’t expect a close match that goes over three sets.
In my Kyrgios Wu tip, I therefore recommend 2:0 for the Australian.
