MELBOURNE—Nick Kyrgios says he is not 100 percent fit but will try to play well at the Australian Open. The Aussie is considered to be one of the best young players on the ATP tour and is being heavily featured in local newspapers and broadcasts.
Kyrgios reached the quarterfinals of Wimbledon last year, stunning Rafael Nadal in the fourth round. But the 19-year-old hurt his back two weeks ago, and fell to Jerzy Janowicz last week in Sydney, 6-1, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (5).
"I'm noticing improvements [in my back] every day," Kyrgios said. "I've done everything I possibly can to get where we can get the most improvement. I think I'm ready to compete…. I'm feeling it. I'm obviously feeling it. It's not 100 percent. But I'm good enough to compete."
Kyrgios will play Argentina's Federico Delbonis in the first round, and could face No. 23 Ivo Karlovic in the second round. He said that he would play other tournaments in this condition.
"It's a tough question," he said. "I mean, obviously it's the Australian Open. You know, I'm only 19, so I wouldn't want to do anything silly to shorten my career any way. I think I'm good enough to compete. So I would play any other week."