Grigor Dimitrov and Nick Kyrgios are two players that you would think would be key heading into the Wimbledon 2017 draw. With Dimitrov, he made the semifinals there in 2014 and appeared to be destined for the late rounds from that point on. It has not worked out that way for the Bulgarian, as he has struggled to duplicate his 2014 result. With Kyrgios, you would think that he would do well on grass due to his power. However, the problems with him appear to be much different. Both the Bulgarian and the Aussie could certainly use a deep run at the All England Club as they look to inject some momentum into their seasons.
Recapping Dimitrov's 2017 season
Dimitrov certainly has some season highlights already. He won in Sofia and he won in Brisbane in the opening months of the year. He also did very well in Melbourne Park, making that tournament's semifinals before losing in five sets to Rafael Nadal. However, Dimitrov has hit a slump of late. His most recent loss came in Stuttgart last week where he fell to Jerzy Janowicz. Dimitrov does remain alive as of Friday in London's Queen's Club draw, where he stands a good chance of making the final. He will face Feliciano Lopez on Saturday in that 500-series semifinal.
But, looking back at Dimitrov's clay court season, it has to be said that it amounted to nothing. He made the third round of the French Open, beating two players that were ranked outside of the top 100 before losing to Pablo Carreno Busta.
Other than that, he had first-round losses in Morocco, Monte Carlo, and Rome. In Madrid he did win a couple matches, but overall his clay court season was disappointing. His Indian Wells and Miami results were weak as well, and that has made him an afterthought heading into Wimbledon. Bet365 sportsbook have Dimitrov priced at 20 to 1 to win the event straight-up.
Recapping 2017 for Nick Kyrgios
Kyrgios' season does not include any titles and he is currently only ranked 20th in the world. The lowlight of his season remains what happened to him in the 2017 Australian Open's 2nd round. The Aussie had a two-sets-to-love lead over Andreas Seppi before the Italian back-doored Krygios, winning in a lengthy fifth set.
The match is noted as a mental meltdown, as Kyrgios appeared to start battling inner demons on the court. It certainly set a bad tone for the season, as the early exit cost Kyrgios a lot of potential ranking points, and it could even be viewed as having cost him a better seed in a lot of tournaments that came after the 2017 Australian Open.
But Kyrgios did buzz around the late rounds of Acapulco, Indian Wells, and Miami -- his season has not been without highlights. He is considered to have an immense amount of talent and yet he's on the outside of a lot of tennis discussion right now. A strong result at Wimbledon would inject some major momentum into his career at this point.
For Dimitrov and Kyrgios a Grand Slam title might be out of reach right now.
However, they each need to target winning their quarters at Wimbledon regardless of who they share a draw to the semifinals with. For Kyrgios, a semifinal berth would put him in uncharted territory. For Dimitrov, such a result would show that he's getting back to his best tennis.
