TOKYO —
Nick Kyrgios said he “struggled to breathe” in the Tokyo air Tuesday before
finding his feet and crushing Taiwan’s Tseng Chun-hsin 6–3, 6–1 in his first
match since the US Open.
اضافة اعلان
Kyrgios dropped
just seven points on his own service in his opening match at the Japan Open as
he dismantled world number 87 Tseng in 1hr, 6min.
The maverick world
number 20 was playing his first match since his “heartbreaking” quarterfinal
loss to
Karen Khachanov at last month’s US Open but he said he made a “solid”
return despite a slow start.
“The first couple
of games I struggled to breathe, I think just the humidity and getting back
into competitive play,” said Kyrgios, whose lawyer appeared for him earlier in
the day at a court hearing in Australia, where he faces a charge of common
assault.
“I came out a bit
slow, but I don’t play many matches, so it’s hard to just get straight back
into that competitive flow.”
“But as soon as I
held that first game, I found my form again and played really well.”
The Tokyo crowd
cheered Kyrgios’ name and clamored for the signed balls that he hit into the
stands after the match.
He put on a show on
the court as well, hitting one shot between his legs and bickering with the
umpire over line calls.
Kyrgios has posted
several pictures of himself sightseeing in Tokyo on social media since he
arrived and he said he was “excited” to be playing in Japan.
“To play in front
of the crowd is amazing, they’re so respectful, and they always love good
tennis,” said the 27-year-old.
“The last couple of
years, COVID has affected the tournament so it’s just good to have this event
back and running again.”
Ruud surprise
Earlier in the day, top seed Casper Ruud crashed out in the first round
after a 6–3, 6–3 defeat to Spain’s Jaume Munar.
The Norwegian lost
to Carlos Alcaraz in the US Open final last month and he has hardly taken his
foot off the gas since, playing in the
Davis Cup and Laver Cup before heading
to last week’s Korea Open.
He finally hit the
wall against world number 58 Munar, having his service broken twice in the
first set and dumping shot after shot into the net all match.
Ruud admitted he
had been trying too hard after his US Open run.
“I might have
pushed a little too much and tried to go for too many tournaments and too many
matches in a row but I really wanted to come to Asia and play these
tournaments,” said the world number three.
“Today I wasn’t
able to bring my best level but it’s an experience and a situation I will try
to learn from.”
Australian
number-six seed Alex de Minaur also made a first-round exit earlier in the day
when he lost 6–3, 6–2 to South Korea’s Kwon Soon-woo.
Croatia’s
number-nine seed Borna Coric beat Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis 6–4, 7–6 (7/4),
while British number-eight seed Dan Evans beat Moldova’s Radu Albot 6–7 (3/7),
6–1, 6–4.
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