We are just over a week away from the start of Wimbledon, and the entire tennis world is excited. Well, everyone except for a handful of notable names that find themselves struggling to find their form along the way to the All-England Club.
At the time of the tennis season when top players would ideally like to be in peak form, there remain plenty of stars suffering through frustrating performance- and/or injury-related setbacks. It’s one thing to flame out early in a minor grass court tune-up, but panic is surely starting to set in amongst those who are just days away from arriving at what is arguably the sport’s signature event.
Here are four players that need to get their act together quickly lest their stay in London falls well short of a full fortnight:
Jannik Sinner
Already struggling amidst a trying few months that have included a second-round loss to Daniel Altmaier at the French Open and a quarter-final defeat at ‘s-Hertogenbosch at the hands of Emil Ruusuvuori, Jannik Sinner now finds himself limping into Wimbledon – both literally and figuratively. In Halle, Sinner looked to be gaining momentum after three-set wins over Richard Gasquet and Lorenzo Sonego before being forced to retire from a quarter-final against eventual champion Alexander Bublik with an adductor strain.
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Aryna Sabalenka / Coco Gauff
We are connecting these two top women’s stars by virtue of their shared recent trajectories. In the case of both Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff, deep French Open runs (Sabalenka reached the semifinals, Gauff lasted until the quarters) have since given way to an underwhelming transition to grass. Both women recorded a single win in Berlin last week, only to fall without much of a fight in the round of 16. Sabalenka, the tournament’s top seed, went down in straight sets to wild card Veronika Kudermetova, while the fifth-seeded Gauff wound up on the losing end of a one-sided 6-4, 6-0 loss to Ekaterina Alexandrova.
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Nick Kyrgios
Say what you will about Nick Kyrgios, but the sport is more compelling and interesting when the controversial Aussie is involved. Always a player to watch, Kyrgios was going to be in the Wimbledon spotlight simply by virtue of his run to the men’s final year ago. When you add in a return from knee surgery that kept him sidelined for nearly eight months, you’ve got the opportunity for a true storybook run. Unfortunately, his comeback seems to have hit a snag. A 7-5, 6-3 straight sets loss to Wu Yibing in his return to the court in Stuttgart has now resulted in an apparent injury setback, as the 28-year-old withdrew from Halle on account of lingering knee issues.
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Elena Rybakina
Winning your first career Grand Slam title is one thing, but defending it is another thing entirely. And Elena Rybakina isn’t off to a great start if she hopes for a triumphant return to the All-England Club one year after winning the tournament. After operating under the radar last year, all eyes will now be on the world No. 3 as she takes the opening Tuesday match slot, as is custom for the defending champion. That pressure could be getting to her if last week’s second-round loss to Donna Vekic in Berlin is any indication. Things are only looking bleaker this week after Rybakina withdrew from the Eastbourne event with a virus.
