Nick Kyrgios proves his match fitness despite loss at Brisbane International 2025
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.
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.
READ MORE | World top-ranked Sabalenka wins opening singles match at Brisbane International 2025
Later, Novak Djokovic, who beat Kyrgios in the 2022 Wimbledon final, defeated Australian wild-card entry Rinky Hijikata 6-3, 6-3.
Victory in Brisbane in the final on Sunday would be Djokovic’s 100th ATP tournament win before the 10-time Australian Open champion seeks a record 25th Grand Slam title in Melbourne.
“I always expect myself to do well on the court. A win is a win and to start the new season with one is very important,” Djokovic said. “Hijikata deserves a round of applause. He was really, really good and made me work for the win.”
On Monday, Djokovic and Kyrgios, who are good friends, won their first-round doubles match.
Kyrgios said his wrist was extremely sore after the doubles win and he didn’t sound optimistic of getting far at the Australian Open beginning Jan. 12.
“I almost need a miracle and the stars to align for my wrist to hold up in a Grand Slam for sure,” he said. “But I’m so happy to be part of the Australian summer again.”
“For me, honestly, it was a great match, considering I hadn’t played in 18 months,” Kyrgios, the 2022 Wimbledon finalist, added. “And to put myself in a winning position was exciting.”
The 29-year-old said he “felt relatively pretty good physically — my legs, my body felt really good”.
“Not one tennis player has ever had this surgery and come back and tried to play again,” added Kyrgios, who played doubles with Novak Djokovic on Monday.
“It’s all really experimental — I don’t really have any protocol of how it’s going to be or how it’s going to pull up.
“So me and my physio, we are taking it as it comes. If we can get through a match, we get through a match.
“How it pulls up tomorrow, I have no idea. It’s throbbing like (expletive) right now.”
In another men’s singles match Tuesday, Frances Tiafoe beat Australian wild-card entry Adam Walton 7-5(5), 6-3. Also, tournament No. 5 seed and world No. 22 Sebastian Korda withdrew with a lower back injury.
(With inputs from AFP)
