NIck Kyrgios shows fight and fitness before losing to Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in his long-awaited return to action in Brisbane.
December 31, 2024, Brisbane, Australia | AAP
Nick Kyrgios could only shrug when rising star Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard crashed Australia’s tennis comeback party in Brisbane.
The Australian was frustrated but showed fight and stamina as he suffered a 7-6(2) 6-7(4) 7-6 3) defeat without breaking serve for nearly two and a half hours.
The 21-year-old French talent has soared outside the world’s top 200 to rank 31st in the world this year. His massive arsenal on both first and second serves is arguably already the most destructive in the sport.
Kyrgios, playing only his second tour-level singles match in two and a half years after a troublesome wrist injury, experienced that full-throated blow a day after partnering Novak Djokovic in Monday night’s doubles win.
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Mpetshi Perricard served 36 aces to Kyrgios’ 15, regularly topping 220kmh with ease and adding to the pain by backing himself up with a huge second serve.
“You understand my frustration,” Kyrgios told referee Christian Rask, who quietly warned him to watch his language after missing a rare opportunity in the second set.
Kyrgios, 29, was calm against the ice-cold Frenchman, who ironically gave the Australian his own dose of medicine as he prepares to restart his career on the back of his incredible serve.
A running forehand winner gave the Frenchman an early buffer in the first set tiebreak, finishing with his ninth ace and a 73% first serve percentage.
Mpetshi Perricard kept Kyrgios guessing again as the second set headed for a tiebreak.
Kyrgios turned the screw and forced a few errors to level the contest, and cracks began to appear in both players’ serves in the decider.
The Australian was skilful in the third set, but again it was the French star who made an early mistake to take control of the decisive tie-break and secure victory.
Alexei Popyrin’s preparations for the Australian Open hit a snag when he was humiliated by Italian Matteo Arnaldi in the first round of the Brisbane International.
The Australian team, ranked 24th in the world, cruised to a 6-3, 6-2 win on Tuesday, with Arnaldi taking his overall win to 3-1 in the process.
Popyrin will be seeded at next month’s Australian Open for the first time since winning the 2024 Montreal Masters 1000 and beating Novak Djokovic to reach the fourth round of the US Open.
He’s got a game that Australian tennis great John Newcombe thinks could propel him into the world’s top 10 next year.
But the 23-year-old Italian world number 37, two years Popyrin’s junior, showed how fiercely competitive the field was in the 68-minute procession.
Then Australian world number 93 Adam Walton ousted fifth-seeded American Frances Tiafoe, who saved a set point in the first set to win 7-6(5) 6-3.
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