Kyrgios storms back for long-awaited win in Miami
Australia’s Nick Kyrgios has recovered from a slow start to beat American Mackenzie McDonald in the first round of the Miami Open.
Kyrgios dropped the opening set before storming home to win 3-6 6-3 6-4 on Wednesday (local time).
“The wait is over,” tennis TV commentators declared after the win.
“That will taste so, so sweet.”
It was Kyrgios’s first win in a tour-level match since 2022 and sets up a second-round encounter with Russian Karen Khachanov.
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The Australian said he was glad to be back but won’t be getting carried away.
“To come off and get a win and feel like I belong again was special,” he said.
“I never thought I would play tennis again to be brutally honest with you.
“I was having conversations with my camp and my team … and I said ‘I don’t know how long I can keep doing this for’.
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“This [win] puts some petrol in the tank but I need to be realistic and see how my wrist feels tomorrow because it is a grind out here.”
The 2022 Wimbledon finalist, who once reached 13 in the ATP Tour rankings, sits at 892.
He came into the Miami tournament after an early exit at Indian Wells where he retired hurt in his opening match.
The Australian was losing 7-6, 3-0 to Botic van de Zandschulp before quitting with a wrist injury.
The win also comes after Kyrgios was named as one of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed by the Professional Tennis Players’ Association against the sport’s governing bodies, accusing them of anti-competitive practices and a disregard for player welfare.
The PTPA, an independent players’ union co-founded by Novak Djokovic and Vasek Pospisil in 2019 says after years of good-faith efforts to reform professional tennis, it has been forced to take legal action to end “monopolistic control” of the sport.
In its sights are the ATP and WTA, which organise the men’s and women’s tours, the International Tennis Federation, which runs team competitions, and the International Tennis Integrity Agency, which oversees the sport’s anti-doping and anti-corruption system.
Twelve current and former players, including Djokovic, Pospisil and Kyrgios, are listed as plaintiffs along with the PTPA.
– with AAP
