Nick Kyrgios: One match in 2023, out of top 90, will former Wimbledon runner-up return to the top again?

He had just won the Citi Open singles title in Washington DC, having not dropped serve once across six matches, and a couple of hours later would lift the doubles trophy.

After years of battling issues on and off the court it looked like it was all finally clicking for Kyrgios.

Kyrgios’ career finally looked primed for take-off.

Instead it has been grounded.

Since his quarter-final loss to Karen Khachanov at the US Open last summer he has only played four singles matches, three in Tokyo in October 2022 and one on grass in a short-lived comeback this summer.

He missed the first part of the season – including the Australian Open – due to knee surgery, and a Wimbledon return did not materialise. His only match of the season so far saw him beaten in straight sets by Yibing Wu in Stuttgart, after which he asked for “patience” from fans.

“It’s a process to get back to where I was. I know it’s hard for you to see me perform like today, but I need more time and hopefully can get back to where I was.”

That was two months ago, and Kyrgios has not been back on court since.

He withdrew from Halle the week after Stuttgart because of a knee issue and then pulled out of Wimbledon due to a “torn ligament” in his wrist, shortly after saying he was “extremely confident” in his chances at the Grand Slam. Kyrgios had also said that his body was “feeling OK” and he had “worked extremely hard to play”.

Kyrgios is now ranked at No. 92 in the world rankings and after this week will fall out of the top 100. If he doesn’t play the US Open, where he has 360 points to defend, he will tumble further down.

The questions now are when will Kyrgios return, and after so long away can he quickly get back to the top level again?

Kyrgios didn’t just go on a run at Wimbledon in 2022, he was playing consistently high-level tennis throughout the summer for arguably the first time in his career.

Now Carlos Alcaraz is ahead of him, so too Djokovic. But would a summer 2022 version of Kyrgios fit in comfortably at No. 3? It would be intriguing to find out.

It perhaps says something that even with his lack of competitive action this year, Alcaraz was talking up Kyrgios as one of the leading contenders to beat Djokovic ahead of Wimbledon.

“I think that Kyrgios has more chance to defeat Djokovic than any other player,” said Alcaraz ahead of the tournament, which he went on to win.

Alcaraz’s comments speak to the weapons at Kyrgios’ disposal, which were never hotter than they were last summer. If Kyrgios does return soon then a showdown with Alcaraz would be arguably the biggest ticket on tour. A fourth meeting with Djokovic wouldn’t be far behind. And then maybe a 10th Kyrgios v Nadal clash before the latter steps away from the sport next year.

There is absolutely no doubt that Kyrgios remains a huge draw on the ATP Tour.

But when he returns to the tour remains uncertain.