It was a tough and gruelling return to the singles court for Nick Kyrgios’ who was pushed physically for a three-set loss in his tennis comeback from injury at the Brisbane International against French talent Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.
Returning after more than an 18-month absence from the game, Kyrgios looked sharp in the doubles win with former World No.1 Novak Djokovic on Monday night but had less than 24 hours to back up for his first match on the singles side of the draw.
While the Aussie did not appear to be hampered throughout the game and showed some of his trademark nous and creativity, in the end, it was a battle of the big serves with 44 aces as all three sets went to tie-breakers.
The Australian was made to work in the first set, saving a break point at 4-3 down to keep the start of the match on serve.
While Kyrgios was often relying on his power game, he was also showing his tennis smarts, moving the Frenchman around the court early – and there were even signs of maturity from the unpredictable Aussie.
After blowing a game point to send it to 5-5 with a wayward forehand, instead of showing his temper, he just had a quiet word with himself before steadying to eventually send the set to a tie-breaker.
“I don’t know if the microphones picked that up but he’s disappointed that he’s going for too much, trying to take out the lines,” Channel Nine’s John Millman said in commentary.
There were also moments of laziness from the Australian, trying a tweener at game point down that went straight into the net with little power.
But Mpetshi Perricard’s serve was proving a real handful for Kyrgios as he raced through the tie-breaker to claim the first set in 45 minutes.
Despite appearing to move freely in his time on court, the trainer came out to treat the Aussie’s right wrist at the conclusion of the first set. It was one of the injuries that sidelined him for so long, but fortunately, the strapping was just precautionary, rather than an actual medical concern.
The second set almost mirrored the first, with neither player showing a chink in the serve – although the Frenchman had to fight hard to stop Kyrgios taking a break from 3-2 ahead.
The Australian has always said he wants to be the entertainer and was bringing out all of his tricks, including the underarm serve to catch his opponent napping and wrap up the game and a 5-4 lead.
But even at his best before his injury, Kyrgios would have struggled to answer Mpetshi Perricard’s massive serve as his 10th ace of the set sent the game to the second tie-break.
Then somehow, it was a new Kyrgios in the breaker, playing some of his best tennis of the match to have the Brisbane crowd on their feet as a 7-4 win levelled the match at one set all.
Nick Kyrgios. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
It was a messy start to the third for both players who made some frustrating unforced errors before their reliable serves kicked back into gear – the Frenchman producing seven aces in a row to take a 5-4 lead.
There was a moment of frustration from Kyrgios who couldn’t believe the ball caught the line off Mpetshi Perricard’s racquet by millimetres, having a minor argument with the chair umpire.
In the end though, when the Aussie fell behind in the third-set tiebreaker there was no coming back as his singles comeback ended in a 7-6 6-7 7-6 loss.
Meanwhile, fellow Aussie Alexei Popyrin’s Australian Open preparations have hit a snag, humbled by Italian Matteo Arnaldi in the Brisbane International first round.
The world No.24 Australian was outplayed 6-3 6-2 on Tuesday, Arnaldi moving to 3-1 in their career head-to-head in the process.
Popyrin will be seeded for the first time at next month’s Australian Open after a 2024 headlined by his Masters 1000 triumph in Montreal and upset of Novak Djokovic to reach the fourth round of the US Open.
He has a game Australian tennis great John Newcombe thinks can carry him into the world’s top 10 next year.
But the Italian world No.37, two years Popyrin’s junior at 23, demonstrated just how competitive the field was in a 68-minute procession.
Australian world No.93 Adam Walton then pushed fifth-seeded American Frances Tiafoe, who saved set points in the first set before turning the tables in a 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 victory.
Day two began with the withdrawal of fifth seed and world No.22 Sebastian Korda (lower back), the American to be replaced in the main draw by Dusan Lajovic.
Novak Djokovic begins his campaign against Australian Rinky Hijikata in the twilight session.
Aleksandar Vukic and Jordan Thompson have already assured an Australian second-round presence after impressive victories in Brisbane.
– with AAP