ATP
AO Men: Day One review
Nick Kyrgios delivered a serious box office blow on opening day of the Australian Open, with the controversial character forced to withdraw with a knee injury.
The Wimbledon finalist who won the home doubles trophy with Thanasi Kokknakis in 2022, brought his physio along for a medical explanation of the cyst on his knee.
Kyrgios tested the January injury at Friday’s exhibition match here with Novak Djokovic – and the result to the No. 21 was not encouraging.
“I’m obviously disappointed,’ Kyrgios said. This coming around is just bad timing.
“But that’s life, injury is a part of the sport. I guess I can draw some inspiration from someone like Thanasi who has had a bunch of injuries and has bounced back.
“I’m not doubting I will be back to my full strength and playing the tennis I was playing prior to this event.
“I’m devastated obviously. It’s like my home tournament. I’ve had some great memories here – (like) last year winning the title in doubles and playing the best tennis of my life probably.
“Then going into this event as one of the favourites, it’s brutal.
“All I can do now is just look forward, do what I need to do and come back.”
On court Rafael Nadal survived a freak disruption of his unbending match routine, with the Spaniard flustered as a ballboy apparently made off with one of his racquets after the first set.
The top seed was so unnerved that he dropped the second to Brit Jack Draper before shrugging off the incident and completing a 7-5, 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 opening victory.
Local media speculated that the ballboy could easily sell the valuable tennis artifact with ease.
Melbourne holder Nadal was pleased to get a Tour victory after losing both of his matches at the United Cup in Sydney and struggling with injury since losing in the fourth round of the US Open.
“Last year here was one of the most emotional events of my career,” the 21-time Grand Slam winner said.
“But now I need to keep working, I’m super-happy to be back here one more time as I begin my 19th pro season.
“I really needed a victory, the last months were not easy for me. This is a very positive start.”
Polish 10th seed Hubert Hurkacz sent down 24 aces in his 7-6(1), 6-2, 6-2 defeat of Spain’s Pedro Martinez.
Italy’s Jannik Sinner, seeded 15, profitted from nearly 40 unforced errors off the racquet of Brit Kyle Edmund, sending the No. 583 down to defeat.
Sinner won 11 straight games between the first and third set as he took command of the contest to power into the second round.
But crossing the finish line was tough, with the final game comprising six deuces and requiring six match points.
Frances Tiafoe held off Germany’s Danile Altmaier 6-3, 6-3, 6-7(5), 7-6(6).
Canadian Denis Shapovalov, a quarter-finalist 12 months ago, made a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 winning start over Serb Dusan Lajovic.
American Sebastian Korda, finalist eight days ago against Novak Djokovic in Adelaide, beat Chile’s Cristian Garin 6-4, 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 to advance.
Two-time champion Casper Ruud had to work for more than two and a half hours to overcome Jaime Faria, the Portuguese who put out Stan Wawrinka in the first round at the Gstaad Swiss Open on Thursday.
Faria was riding the momentum from Tuesday’s defeat of three-time Grand Slam winner Stan Wawrinka, set to retire this season and beaten in an opening match at his home venue.
Faria had his eye on a second upset as he faced Ruud, who lifted the trophy at this elite alpine village in 2021 and 2022.
Ruud ahd to dodge a bullet and mount a comeback to get through the second-round test against the Portuguese.
After dropping the opening set in a tiebreaker, Ruud played patiently as Faria saved five break points in the sixth game of the second set before failing on the sixth.
Ruud then pulled away for a 6-7 (1), 6-4, 6-2 victory, his first since Roland Garros.
“Sometimes it is hard to say when you get a good feeling and you start to win some games in a row,” the winner said.
“You try from the first game to the last, but suddenly something clicked in the middle of the second for me, luckily.”
He added: “I had to really fight hard and if I played one bad game in the second and he serves well, it could be over and it would be time to go home. But luckily I can extend the stay.”
The Scandinavian could join Spaniards Sergi Bruguera and Alex Corretja as three-time winners in the Alps, with Ruud now standing 10-1 here over his career.
Stefanost Tsitsipas said he slept soundly prior to finishing off a darkness-interrupted match on Thursday as he eliminated local Jerome Kym at the Gstaad Swiss Open.
The Greek who once cracked third in the world and the 186th-ranked Swiss returned to the clay after darkness on Wednesday night left them hanging at 5-all in the third set.
Tsitsipas revved up his game from the resumption to emerge into the quarter-finals 6-4, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (5).
The second seed now standing 85th in the world after several poor seasons and a split with his father as his coach, said getting his rest was not a problem after the interruption.
“It was strange going to bed and not being finished. I visualised what I wanted to do, my shot patterns.
“It worked out pretty well.
“I had a good night’s sleep, I was not too stressed and I recovered to get ready for the continuation.”
After saving break points in the first game on Thursday, Tsitsipas triumphed in the final-set tiebreaker
“I’m relieved I was able to save a couple of break points.. I put my game together and made it )victory) happen again.”
The Greek now faces off against Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech for a semi-final spot.
“I’m expecting a lot of big serves, the altitude (1050m) helps. I’ll try to build consistency around my own serve.”
Stefanos Tsitsipas was handed a reprieve due to fading light with his second round match at the Swiss Open Gstaad stopped with the Greek deadlocked with local Jerome Kym 6-4, 6-7 (2), 5-5.
The math had to be halted as night fell and electronic linecalling computers could not read the path of the ball on the clay in contrast to humans who could have carried on for a few additional minutes..
The 27-year-old Tsitsipas was taking the worst of it in the concluding stage after a promising start.against a journeyman opponent ranked 186.
Tsitsipas, his ranking down to 85th after once standing third in the world, lashed out verbally in the last few games, apparently frustrated with his racquet reactions.
The Greek was quick to make his point of an overnight stoppage to the chair umpire while Kym – who reached 5-all with a love service hold – left the court with a defiant fist pump for his public in this alpine resort village.
The cutoff came after just over two hours of play, with the contest to be concluded on Thursday. The winner reaches the Friday quarter-finals.
Tsitsipas produced his last notable result in April with a fourth-round showing at the Madrid Masters,
He is aiming for his second quarter-final of the season after Doha in February and his 2025 Barcelona 15 months ago.
Tsitsipas stands 10-1 vs. players ranked outside the top 100 this season with a sole loss to No. 104 Italian Matteo Arnaldi at the Roland Garros second round.
History repeats for Argentine spoiler in Gstaad
Ruud survives a scare to secure Gstaad quarters
Tsitsipas finishes off Kym after overnight pause
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