MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Nick Kyrgios won his first game in nearly two and a half years at the Miami Open on Wednesday, beating Mackenzie McDonald 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
“I’m not going to lie. I was crying in court. I’m thinking about the last two years. Honestly, it was pretty cruel,” said Kyrgios, runner-up for Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon in 2022. And you win, but winning a match is another thing. ”
The Australian, who turns 30 next month, was not on the far right of the official contest when he defeated Kamil Majakulzak in a tournament in Tokyo in October 2022 and retreated before his matchup with Taylor Fritz in the quarter-finals.
Since then, Kyrgios has required surgery on the torn ligaments on his wrist and knee, and has sidelined him for almost all of 2023 (when he competed once in a single) and every season in 2024.
Kyrgios, one of the nominated plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit filed by players against the tennis-run group on Tuesday, began this year with a record of 0-3 until Wednesday.
The lack of competition has dropped from No. 13 to No. 892 in the ATP rankings from No. 13 career. He was able to enter Miami Field thanks to his helmed rankings. He was a semi-finalist in this hard court tournament in 2016 and 2017.
“I actually had quite a bit of victory, so this felt normal, but I don’t think I was in a place where I couldn’t hit a fluffy tennis ball now. “It’s pretty surreal.”
Californian McDonald, who eliminated Rafael Nadal at the 2023 Australian Open, ranked 101st and qualified to score a spot in the main draw at the Miami Open.
Next up after Kyrgios is against No. 22 seed Karen Khachanov, the two-time Grand Slam semi-finalist.
They played three times before. This was won by Kyrgios, the 2020 Australia Open, and won by Khachanov, who won the 2022 US Open.
“We grew up almost together throughout juniors. He’s an insane mainstay. He’s very professional. He always shows up. “When I set the starting line, I give him what I have. But I can’t say that it’s what we had between us.”