Although he has yet to book his place in Sunday’s final, Djokovic remains the overwhelming favorite to lift the Wimbledon trophy for the seventh time and overtake the great Roger Federer in second place for the most titles. of the Grand Slam with 21, one behind Nadal.

But McNamee, a former world No. 1 in doubles, offers Kyrgios to bow in the final and join Lleyton Hewitt, Pat Cash and Ash Barty as Australian Wimbledon champions.

Kyrgios is ranked 40th in the world but has 25 wins over top 10 opponents at the time, including victories over Federer and Nadal. He holds a 2-0 record over Djokovic, with both wins coming in straight sets on hard courts in 2017.

“He has this ability to beat the best players,” McNamee said on ABC radio. “He also has a winning record over Roger Federer. Nick Kyrgios is an enigma.

“I never chose against Nadal on clay and I can never choose against Kyrgios on grass. I think he can beat anyone, and he can lose against anyone. I choose him to win the final. I choose it to win it, even if it will probably be [against] Novak Djokovic.

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“Because on a grass pitch with the game he has and he’s fresh now that he has three days off, he really has an incredible opportunity.

“I’m assessing his chances. I assess the chances of Australia having another Wimbledon champion. We had one last year in women’s singles, we could save it in men’s.

McNamee said Nadal would have struggled to beat Kyrgios even though the Spaniard was in top form.

“Rafa is an incredible warrior, you know he would have done everything possible to play but let’s be honest, Nick Kyrgios is a very tough opponent on grass. It’s the only surface a fully fit Rafael Nadal would be very worried about. Nick Kyrgios.

Nadal’s injury dashed his dreams of completing a calendar slam, a feat last achieved in the men’s game over half a century ago by Rod Laver in 1969.

Nadal battled through the muscle tear to come from behind and beat American Taylor Fritz in five sets in the quarters but doubted he could win the tournament with the injury.

“I can’t win two matches under these circumstances,” Nadal said. “The most important thing is happiness… I can’t risk this match and stay two to three months out of competition [off the tour].”

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Watch all the action from Wimbledon ad-free, live and on demand on Stan Sports, with matches streamed in 4K UHD. Coverage of select matches begins on 9GEM from 9:30 p.m. AEST each evening