Nick Kyrgios has won his first Tour match on the clay in over 1000 days after ousting Mackenzie McDonald in the first round of the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship.
Kyrgios, who is playing his first tournament on the surface since Rome 2019, battled his way to a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, victory over the American who is currently ranked 40 places higher than him. The Australian managed to come back from a set down with the help of a dominant service display where he produced a total of 18 aces (of which 16 was during ther last two sets) and he won 85% of his first service points. It is the first time he has won a Tour match on clay since beating Ivo Karlovic at the same tournament four years ago.
“Clay is obviously not my preferred surface, but I just served really well and started playing more aggressive and just found another gear,” atptour.com quoted Kyrgios as saying. “I did slip and slide a little bit, but my game actually suits the clay quite well. It’s a great atmosphere out here and the crowd’s pretty involved, so I’m looking forward to continuing to progress through the event.”
As is usually the case with Kyrgios matches, there was plenty of entertainment on display. One of which included him producing a tweener lob that drew an error at the net from his opponent.
Unlike his peers the 26-year-old will not be heading to Europe to play in next month’s French Open after confirming he is instead going home. It is the fifth year in a row that he has missed the event which he once described as the ‘the worst bloody Grand Slam’ during a podcast in 2021.
However, it looks as if Kyrgios’ hiatus from Roland Garros will come to an end next year all in the name of love. During an interview earlier this week with tennis reporter and host Blair Henley, he confirmed his intentions of playing next year with one of the main reasons being that his girlfriend wants to see Paris.
“Next year I am going to go to Paris. I’m announcing that now, I’m going to the French Open,” he said.
“I haven’t played that in four years so I’ll be back next year.
“My girlfriend just wants to see Paris. I mean, I’ll play the French Open as well.”
Kyrgios will take on Tommy Paul in the second round in Houston.
