MY ACCOUNT
Serena Williams’ return to Wimbledon represents a “great example” to other players, according to Nick Kyrgios, who said tennis fans should not take her or other fellow greats Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, for granted.
Comparing the quartet to four-time NBA MVP LeBron James, Kyrgios says sports fans should enjoy the legends’ “amazing” exploits while they still can.
It was confirmed on Tuesday that Williams – who has not played competitively since losing to Aliaksandra Sasnovich at Wimbledon last year – has been handed a singles wildcard to compete at the year’s tournament, which begins later this month.
Williams, now aged 40 and ranked 1,208th in the world, has won seven singles titles at Wimbledon, the last of which came in 2016, and 23 grand slams in total.
Speaking at a news conference at the Halle Open in Germany, Kyrgios said Williams’ exploits are an inspiration to other players.
“It is great, these legends… I think humans always take athletes for granted,” he said. “Roger, Rafa, Novak, LeBron, Serena, these athletes are so rare. They are just amazing.
“I think we should just – as long as they want to keep playing – we have just got to keep taking it in and enjoying that, because the time is nearly up for all of these players.
“So it is amazing to see her [Williams] playing again and playing the biggest tournament in the world – it is amazing.
“I think it is also a great example that every player should try and play Wimbledon, rather than not play for the [lack of ranking] points [enforced by the ATP last month after Wimbledon unilaterally barred Russian and Belarusian players].
“I think as a kid, you want to win Wimbledon, you want to play Wimbledon, everyone that follows tennis knows what Wimbledon is, and people that even do not follow tennis know what Wimbledon is.
“So I think that is a great example. Obviously, she is not worried about her ranking, I understand, but everyone should be playing Wimbledon, I think, if they can.”
Kyrios will face Pablo Carreno Busta in the quarter-finals at Halle on Friday after recovering from one set down to beat world number six Stefanos Tsitsipas 5-7 6-2 6-4 in the round of 16, as he continues his own Wimbledon preparations.
