STOKE PARK, June 23, 2016
On a rain affected third day at The Boodles Nick Kyrgios squeezed in some final preparations for Wimbledon as he faced Argentina’s Juan Mónaco.
The Australian world No.18 who is hotly tipped to be one of tennis’ next big stars won a set 6-4 against Monaco before rain put a stop to proceedings at Stoke Park.
“I’m really enjoying this event, I think the way they set it up makes it really enjoyable. Last year I was supposed to play but I was a little bit sick, with the right weather it can be an unbelievable event, we still had a lot of fun out there today. There’s top quality players playing like Juan so it’s a perfect warm up for every player. Novak [Djokovic] likes playing here, it’s a good warm up for him and [David] Goffin and other top players in the world so it’s very important to have events like this.”
Nick Kyrgios (photo: Jordan Mansfield)
Kyrgios’ family also enjoyed a day out at the Boodles on Wednesday.
“I was just in bed and they decided to come and check out the event, they’d heard it was one of the best places to come and relax and enjoy it. My brother and mum left today but I’m really glad they came out here and enjoyed themselves yesterday.”
Looking ahead to Wimbledon the 21-year-old said: “Wimbledon for me is the greatest chance on stats and previous results that I can go deeper in a Grand Slam and push to almost win it. Even though I lost first round at Queens I still feel I played pretty well. Milos [Raonic] is playing unbelievably and he made finals. I lost to a quality player and I had chances to win that. I’m always confident even if I didn’t get on today but it’s massive just to get some more match practice especially against a quality guy like Juan Monaco.”
Kyrgios’ opponent Juan Monaco was also pleased to get some time on the grass courts. Mónaco said: “We did our best out there, he served really well so I couldn’t return many balls in that one set but it was fun to play in preparation for Wimbledon. This is my first week on grass as after Paris I was injured so I came early to play in London and these couple of matches will be great for my game, to start getting some form to play on grass so hopefully I can play one more match tomorrow to have a better preparation.
“The crowd is really nice, they seem so relaxed and they get to see some good tennis and top players that have come here. The place is amazing, they have an unbelievable golf course and the grass courts they are ok so it’s really nice to be back here,” he added.
Friday’s action includes a return to court for Nick Kyrgios against Alexander Zverev and in a welcome addition to the player field crowd favourite Grigor Dimitrov will take on the talented David Goffin.
Results – Thursday 23 June 2016
John Isner (USA) v Jeremy Chardy (FRA) 6-3 3-2 (match not completed)
Nick Kyrgios (AUS) v Juan Monaco (ARG) 6-4 (match not completed)
