Kyrgios has progressed to the second round at an ATP 250 tournament in Houston, his first on clay in almost three years.
Nick Kyrgios has made a winning return to clay at an ATP 250 tournament in Houston.
Contesting his first professional match on clay since May 2019, Kyrgios fought back to defeat American Mackenzie McDonald in three sets.
Kyrgios fired 18 aces in a 4-6 6-3 6-4 victory against the world No.52.
It is the 26-year-old’s eighth win from his past 10 matches, all of which have been against higher-ranked opponents.
The victory propels world No.94 Kyrgios into a second-round showdown with seventh-seeded American Tommy Paul, the world No.34 and Roland Garros 2015 boys’ singles champion.
In other first-round action today, a dominant serving performance helped Jordan Thompson score a 6-3 6-2 victory against Canada’s Steven Diez.
World No.83 Thompson conceded only 10 points on his service games in the 94-minute encounter.
While Uruguay’s Pablos Cuevas ended the winning run of Australian qualifier Max Purcell, scoring a 7-6(7) 6-3 victory.
In men’s doubles competition, Luke Saville and John-Patrick Smith eliminated the fourth seeds. The Aussie duo posted a 7-5 2-6 [10-8] victory against Mexico’s Hans Hach Verdugo and American Austin Krajicek.
