Nick Kyrgios is in the main draw for the 2017 Rogers Cup in montreal. Tennis fans will certainly remember the last time that Kyrgios visited the ATP's stop in the Quebec city. That was in 2015 and it was the site of one of his most controversial acts as an ATP tennis player. In a match against Stan Wawrinka, Kyrgios did the unthinkable as he brought up Wawrinka's girlfriend during the match, remarking on her personal life on television during live play. It will be interesting to see how Kyrgios is received in Montreal this upcoming week. But the Aussie enters the 2017 Rogers Cup with less controversial acts in recent weeks.
Kyrgios nothing but injuries lately
A couple weeks ago Kyrgios skipped Atlanta with an injury. He was then spotted shortly thereafter playing basketball in Australia. That made some wonder how serious his injury was. Kyrgios was also the 10th seed in the Washington draw last week. In a match against a peripheral player, the Aussie received some attention for a bothersome shoulder. During the match he could be seen speaking to his mother in the crowd, claiming that he didn't want to be playing. A short time later he withdrew from the match.
The Aussie enters the Rogers Cup in questionable health and not just because of Atlanta and Washington. He also retired back in Wimbledon in the first round, giving up in a match against Pierre-Hugues Herbert (hip).
At the Aegon Championships, Kyrgios retired in the round of 32 against Donald Young. You have to go all the way back to Miami to find a time when Kyrgios made a tournament's quarterfinals or better. At that point in the season, he was playing well as he took Roger Federer to three tiebreakers and only lost by the minimum in the decider.
Kyrgios would then beat John Isner and Sam Querrey in Davis Cup play, but there have been few highlights since.
Assuming Kyrgios is healthy
Looking at the 2017 Rogers Cup draw, and assuming that Kyrgios is healthy, he has a very workable path in the opening rounds. Kyrgios will open in the round of 64 against Viktor Troicki, a fading player on tour that isn't really making big matches anymore.
In the second round, the Aussie would face either Paolo Lorenzi or Frances Tiafoe. The latter is a young surging American player, but one that hasn't done much in big tournaments yet. Alexander Zverev is in Kyrgios' draw to the quarters but, like a lot of top players, Zverev is busy this week. The German is still active in the Washington draw and may be fatigued due to that. If Kyrgios is playing his best then you'd think that a quarterfinal showdown between him and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga would be in order.
However, that seems like a big "if" at this point. Whether it's his shoulder, hip, attitude, or mishap, something or other seems to go wrong with Kyrgios more often than not. The reception in Montreal shouldn't be that warm and friendly for him.
The way Kyrgios is and given his injury history this season, he enters the Rogers Cup draw as a sort of a rogue player. It seems he could make the semifinals almost as easily as he could withdraw or retire in an early-round match.
