BRISBANE, Australia – If Nick Kyrgios was attempting to prove his match fitness after 18 months off the tour due to wrist and knee injuries, he did a good job on Tuesday, albeit in a losing cause at the Brisbane International.
In a match that lasted 2 hours, 27 minutes at Pat Rafter Arena, 21-year-old Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard of France beat the 29-year-old Australian in three tiebreak sets – 7-6 (2), 6-7 (4), 7-6 (3).
The hard-serving French player rose to No. 31 from outside the top 200 this year, AP reported.
Mpetshi Perricard served 36 aces to Kyrgios´s 15, regularly topping 220 kph (135 mph) with ease and backing himself with huge second serves. There were no service breaks in the match.
“Surely you understand my frustration,” Kyrgios told the chair umpire Christian Rask, who had quietly warned him to watch his language after missing a rare chance to break in the second set.
Later, Novak Djokovic, who beat Kyrgios in the 2022 Wimbledon final, was scheduled to play Australian wild-card entry Rinky Hijikata. On Monday, Djokovic and Kyrgios, who are good friends, won their first-round doubles match.
Earlier, world No. 1-ranked and two-time Australian Open defending champion Aryna Sabalenka started her Brisbane singles campaign with a 6-4, 6-0 win over Renata Zarazua of Mexico.
After a first-round bye, Sabalenka took just 63 minutes to reach the third round with form that shows a three-peat in Melbourne Park beginning Jan. 12 was a strong possibility.
“First match always a tricky one to see where your tennis is at,” Sabalenka said. “I´m glad I closed that first set and in the second it felt like whatever I would do would work.”
She´ll play 15th-seeded Yulia Putintseva in the third round, the Kazakhstan player beating American Kessler McCartney 6-2, 7-5.
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